Wrap: Familiar tune to Conant's victory
What sounds beautiful to Conant is a broken record to its opponents.
Because the beat just goes on for the Cougars when they spin their defensive 45s.
On Saturday night they improved to 10-1 when holding an opponent to less than 45 points. They shackled Lake Park 48-32 in a nonconference boys basketball game at Perry Gymnasium in Hoffman Estates.
"If our team holds the other team under 45 we have a great chance of winning," said senior Tom Mahr, who personified Conant's grit with 7 points and 8 rebounds on a bad ankle. "We're disappointed if we don't hold a team under 40."
Junior Tony Rizzo came off the bench on senior night to provide the offensive glitz Conant (15-4) needed in its fifth straight victory.
Rizzo scored a game-high 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting as the Cougars methodically grinded Lake Park (6-14) into submission.
"Our defense is what we rely on every game," Rizzo said of the Cougars allowing just 42 points a game. "If we're not hitting shots we can fall back on our defense to give us a good boost offensively."
Which Conant did after senior George Manos (9 points) hit a pullup jumper 42 seconds after halftime to get Lake Park within 23-17.
Lake Park couldn't make up any more ground despite Conant going scoreless the first 3:57 of the second half.
"They're disciplined and once they get you down they're a very good team," said Lake Park coach Cray Allen after his team shot 33 percent (12-for-36) from the field and committed 15 turnovers. "A 6-point lead against Conant is like 12 or 13 against most teams."
And in a span of 2:50, a 13-0 run ballooned Conant's lead to 36-17. Rizzo started it with a 3-pointer and scored 7 points, Jeff Keegan (10 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds) had a layup and reserve Cameron Leavitt scored twice.
"Cameron really sparked us with his defense," said Tom McCormack, who got his 398th career win in 24 years as a head coach at Conant and Immaculate Conception. "He gave us some toughness and a spark we were able to ride a little bit."
Tommy Sotos added 9 points and 5 rebounds as Conant also won for the eighth time when it's scored less than 50 points.
"If we get an 8-point lead," Mahr said, "we know it will be really tough for the other team to get that back the way we play defense."
Meadows 59, Maine W. 36: The extra pass.
You hear coaches and media analysts talk about it all the time. The unselfish part of basketball, giving up your good shot to give someone else a better one.
Rolling Meadows believes in it.
The Mustangs showed why, and how, Saturday night, distributing the ball beautifully all night, finding the open man and running away from host Maine West, 59-36 in a non-conference game in Des Plaines.
For the Mustangs (11-7), who have turned their season around since Christmas, "The big key is our unselfishness," said Kyle Gaedele, the 6-foot-3 point guard who poses difficult matchups for opponents.
He did that Saturday, scoring 20 points, all on good looks, not missing a shot until the fourth quarter and handing out 8 assists as the Mustangs surpassed last season's victory total.
"That's what we emphasized before the game, and at the half," Gaedele added of the team's near-constant focus on distributing the ball as well as possible.
Their shooting spoke to all that. The Mustangs hit 20-of-35 from the floor and when they weren't making the extra pass they were generating the extra shot, in the form of the putback, which Gaedele and Ben Sabal did some of.
"Ben (Sabal) is kind of our unsung hero," said Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. And more than just offensively.
"Ty (Kirk) and Ben really set the tone defensively," he noted, Kirk with his clamp-down effort on sharpshooter Jimmy Orlowski and Sabal battling inside against much-taller opponents.
"(Ty) did a great job," said Gaedele. "He just shuts down the best shooters."
Maine West was coming off an emotional loss the night before to a good Highland Park team, had little left. They crept within 8 as Adis Kadaric and Nate Anderson, with two hoops apiece, sparked a brief third-quarter rally. Gaedele, Sabal and Kevin Serna shot the Mustangs right back into a double-digit lead.
"Rolling Meadows is a good team. (Gaedele) did a good job finding his gaps and opportunities," said Maine West (4-17) coach Erik McNeil. "(Friday) night we shot the ball well. Tonight we didn't."
-- Howard Schlossberg
Hersey 51, Deerfield 48: Hersey's Luke Fabrizius shooting touch seemed to vanish in back-to-back losses.
The Dayton-bound senior scored a combined 5 points in losses to Rolling Meadows and Prospect.
But Fabrizius found his touch on Saturday, scoring a game-high 20 points and Hersey converted its final 7 free throw attempts to hold off host Deerfield in a 51-48 nonconference victory.
Hersey (13-8) was without second-leading scorer and senior Griffin Dwyer, who was out with a foot injury. Fabrizius came off the bench to hit 7-of-13 field goals and three 3-pointers.
"It showed tonight his confidence hasn't wavered," said Hersey coach Steve Messer. "He didn't force anything and waited until they were there."
"We struggled a bit last night," added Fabrizius of the Huskies' 62-60 overtime loss to Prospect. "Tonight we came out with more intensity. It felt good, we knew what we had to do…we got after it."
The game was tied 11-11 after one quarter, and the Huskies held a 22-20 lead at halftime.
Hersey extended its lead with its inside game. Fabrizius (13 rebounds), Ryan Moran (11 points, 8 rebounds), and Michael Mueller (9 points) went on the attack with Huskies grabbing their largest lead at 44-32 with 3:09 left.
The Huskies had a commanding 34-16 rebounding advantage.
"We've been kind of settling for shots," said Fabrizius, whose team had lost 5 of its last 6 games before Saturday night. "Tonight we attacked."
But Deerfield (6-12), after only converting 11-of-37 field goals in the first 3½ quarters, suddenly got hot and hit 5 straight field goals. Six-5 sophomore Duje Dukan scored 7 fourth-quarter points to narrow the deficit to 45-43 with 1:09 to play.
Senior Bobby Gehm went 4-for-4 from the free throw line and Mueller added a pair of free throws in the final minute as the Huskies survived a game-tying 3 try at the buzzer to escape.
-- Michael Eaken
St. Charles N. 51, Fremd 44: The St. Charles North boys basketball team is one of the hottest in the area -- and there was no slowing the North Stars down Saturday.
With a season-low 4 turnovers and a strong pressure defense, the North Stars beat host Fremd 51-44 in a nonconference game.
A day after shooting 30 percent in a 1-point win over Lake Park, the North Stars hit 15 of 33 field goals and made 14 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Junior Nick Neari had 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block as the North Stars won for the 11th time in 13 games.
"At the beginning of the season we were just trying to figure out what we could do," Neari said, when asked to explain the team's hot streak after a 2-7 start. "We were trying to figure out who plays where and what role we play. I think once we figured out what are roles were we really took off from there."
Jonathan DeMoss had 12 points, 9 in the second half, and 4 rebounds for St. Charles North (13-9), which led the entire game. Tim Janeway scored 8 and Mike Lefelstein added 7 for the North Stars.
Zach Hirsch hit his second 3-pointer to give St. Charles North a 14-7 lead three minutes into the second quarter.
A pair of free throws by Fremd sophomore Christopher Klimek cut the North Stars lead to 1, but a 3-point play from Mike Kastel (5 points, 2 blocks) gave St. Charles North a 18-14 halftime lead.
Six straight points from Klimek (15 points, 9 rebounds) in the fourth quarter cut the North Stars' lead to 32-29 with just under five minutes left. St. Charles North responded with a 13-5 run to take a 45-34 lead with 1:20 remaining.
Daniel Bruno led the way with 17 points for the Vikings (8-10) and didn't stop attacking the basket until the final buzzer sounded.
Fremd was without leading scorer Jim Mundt, who hurt his ankle in practice on Tuesday.
"We don't want to use (Mundt's injury) as an excuse but Jimmy has done a real nice job for us," said Fremd coach Bob Widlowski. "He's really consistent and brings a lot of energy to what we want to do and he's a senior. But I think we needed to execute better with the kids that we had on the floor."
-- Joe Esse
Elgin 75, Barrington 54: What a weekend for the Elgin boys basketball team.
For the second consecutive night, the Maroons jumped all over their opponent, led by at least 31 points and earned a double-digit victory, this time a 75-54 nonconference win over visting Barrington.
"We kept our intensity up from (Friday)," said Elgin's Armani Williams. "That's what we talked about doing, and I think we showed that."
Elgin scored the first 6 points and led by 11 seven minutes into the game.
The Maroons' largest lead was 73-40 in the fourth quarter, as Williams and Jeremy Granger combined for 50 points.
In Friday's 82-72 victory over East Aurora, the Maroons (12-8) scored the first 14 points and led by 18 after the first quarter.
Their largest lead was 31 twice, once in the second quarter and once in the third, as Williams and Granger combined for 45 points.
Barrington (6-15) shot 39 percent from the field.
Williams hasn't struggled with his shot. On Saturday, the senior hit nine 3-pointers and scored 31 points as he shot 11-for-20 from the field.
Against East Aurora, he scored 25 points and hit five 3-pointers.
"Our defense has helped in our transition," Williams said. "We can just keep going up the floor and taking over games like that."
Granger added 19 points, all in the first three quarters, against the Broncos, shooting 8-for-11 from the floor.
Barrington couldn't get much going offensively. The Broncos shot 7-for-27 from the field in the first half and trailed 41-21 at halftime.
Mack Darrow led Barrington with 20 points, 12 in the fourth quarter. The junior also grabbed 8 rebounds.
"Once they got that lead it just took us out of our game plan," said Broncos coach Marty Dello. "(Elgin) did nice job of executing their offense."
-- Brian Schaumburg
Willowbrook 67, Leyden 56: Deron Guyton had 23 points for Leyden (4-14, 1-7) in the West Suburban Gold loss.
St. Patrick 61, Elk Grove 47: Elk Grove (2-19) lost its ninth straight in the nonconference game.