Zion-Benton 54, Schaumburg 41

Schaumburg's tournament run and 6-game winning streak came to an end Friday when the No. 7 Saxons lost to top-seeded Zion-Benton 54-41 in the championship game of the Barrington 4A sectional boys basketball tournament.

And there was little doubt the Zee-Bees deserved their No. 1 seed. While being held to fewer than 60 points for just the fifth time all season, Zion-Benton (30-3) relied on its defense and rebounding to lead virtually the entire game.

Z-B advances to Tuesday's DeKalb supersectional at Northern Illinois' Convocation Center and will face Elgin (21-9), which defeated Rockford Boylan 70-67 in the Jacobs sectional final.

"They're the best team we've played all year," said Schaumburg junior Cully Payne, who led all scorers with 20 points despite getting special attention from the Zion-Benton defense and guard Rodney Clinkscales. "They played straight man, but I had to work hard for every shot."

"It was a great defensive effort," said Zion-Benton coach Don Kloth. "We stressed rebounding and not turning the ball over."

The Zee-Bees outrebounded Schaumburg 32-28 and committed only 9 turnovers to 13 for the Saxons.

"It was a hard physical game," Kloth said. "Both teams gave 100 percent. This was some of the best defense we've played all year."

And other than Payne, the Saxons (19-10) weren't able to solve that defense with any consistency. The next high scorer for Schaumburg was Sean Everitt with 6 points on a pair of second-quarter 3 pointers.

"They really hurt us on the offensive boards," Schaumburg coach Bob Williams said. "We knew they were going to crash the boards, but knowing it and doing something about it are two different things.

"They've got a nice team," Williams said. "They're athletic at every position. There's no shame losing to Zion-Benton."

The last time the Saxons led came less than three minutes into the contest, when Dan Slowik's basket gave them a 4-1 lead. Zion-Benton led 11-6 after one quarter and 22-17 at halftime.

Schaumburg made its only serious run of the second half when the Saxons outscored the Zee-Bees 8-1 to cut a 29-19 deficit to 30-27 when Payne hit a 3-pointer with 3:36 left in the quarter.

The Zee-Bees responded with a 6-2 spurt to end the quarter with a 36-29 lead. Payne made 2 baskets early in the fourth quarter to cut the margin to 40-33, but Zion scored 7 unanswered points for a 47-33 lead, which it protected down the stretch.

"Everything we did, they responded," Payne said.

"Given their athleticism, the speed of the game was a little more than we were used to," Williams said. "We started doubting ourselves and got hesitant, and against a team like Zion-Benton, that's lethal."

Sophomore Lenzelle Smith scored 17 points and was backed up offensively by Markus Yarbrough (11 points) and Quintrell Love (10 points).