Buffalo Grove 53, Rolling Meadows 51

Rolling Meadows, as coach Kevin Katovich observed, "left it all on the court," Wednesday night.

Buffalo Grove, on the other hand, had 2 free throws by Kevin Mulligan and one by Mike Ricciardi left in the tank in the final 34.5 seconds for the difference in the Bison's 53-51 Class 4A regional semifinal win at Palatine.

The Bison (19-8), the Barrington sectional's No. 5 seed, moved into Friday's 7:30 p.m. title game against No. 14 Lake Zurich (17-11).

But Ricciardi seemed to have the response baskets every time No. 12 Meadows (13-15) went ahead or tied the game. Mulligan, a sophomore, giving away 5 inches, who knows how many pounds and two years of experience, clamped down on Meadows' standout point guard Kyle Gaedele in the second half.

He limited the 6-foot-3 senior to no field goals, forced him into a key missed 3-pointer late that would've given Meadows the lead as well as a charging foul on a late drive that also would've swung the momentum.

"He's giving away a lot," said BG coach Ryan O'Connor of Mulligan against Gaedele. But, O'Connor added, Mulligan makes up for it with heart.

"Mully did a great job," said Ricciardi, who hit a key free throw with 10 seconds left for the final cushion and played tight defense with his teammates in the final seconds as Meadows got off a decent but hurried look at a 3 that might've won it but dropped well short at the horn.

In addition to his late free throw, though, during a spell Ricciardi called "the most nerve-wracking thing I've ever encountered in my life," he also had the key baskets that kept Meadows from grabbing the momentum.

When Ben Sabal scored to put Meadows ahead, finally, in the third quarter, after trailing 24-12 in the second, Ricciardi answered within seconds to get the lead back.

He extended the lead on the next possession off a feed from Brian DeSimone. And when two Richie Kemph baskets tied it midway through the fourth, Ricciardi (15 points) again wasted no time scoring after each one to give BG the lead back.

"We expected nothing less," O'Connor said of the rugged test of beating the Mustangs a third straight time this season. "We knew they'd come out and compete."

"I'm just extremely proud of this group," said Katovich. "They played hard. BG's a great team."