Wildcats' clutch Aiello … oh-so-cool
Joey Aiello was certainly cool in the clutch Saturday night.
Aiello drained a pair of free throws with 26.2 seconds remaining to give Libertyville a 46-45 victory over North Suburban Conference rival Stevenson in the third-place game of the Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic boys basketball tournament.
The victory completed a 3-1 performance by the Wildcats, who survived a double-overtime contest against Naperville Central, nearly beat tournament finalist and two-time defending champion Loyola Academy and came back to defeat a Stevenson team it had lost to by 10 points in conference play.
"We played a great tournament," said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil. "We played three really talented teams the last three days."
The 6-6 Wildcats needed Aiello's heroics after seeing an 8-point lead evaporate amid a flurry of 3-point plays by Stevenson's Dylan Richter in the fourth quarter.
Richter, who scored a game-high 21 points, converted three 3-point plays in a 12-2 fourth-quarter spurt during which the Patriots (9-5) surged from a 41-33 deficit early in the quarter into the lead at 45-42 with 3:43 left.
"They knew he was getting the ball and still couldn't stop him," said Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose of Richter's efforts to bring his team back. "It shows he's pretty good."
Libertyville center Jeremy Letchford scored the last of his team-best 15 points with 2:36 left, to pull the Cats within 45-44, and Aiello (14 points) went to the line to win it.
Stevenson had a couple of chances to go for the victory.
A timeout during a scramble for the ball after the play broke down kept it in the Patriots' possession.
After the timeout, Libertyville prevented the ball from getting inside to Richter, and Jeffrey Levitt missed from 3-point range as time was running down. Richter got the rebound and his shot missed at the buzzer.
Letchford was Libertyville's pillar of strength in the second half, scoring 7 in the third quarter.
"Their big guy (Daniel Rebnord) was out with 4 fouls, and I told the guys to throw it in," Letchford said. "I said, 'I can take him.' Joey and I played an in-and-out game."
"He was double-teamed a couple of times and did an inside-out with Aiello, who made a 3 (in the fourth quarter)," Bogumil said. "We tried to get him the ball, because good things happen when you get the ball inside."
The game started the way many do when the teams are familiar with each other. The feeling-out process lasted the entire first half. Stevenson led 11-10 after one quarter, and the Wildcats were ahead 22-19 at halftime.
"We know them, and they know us," Ambrose said. "We have no excuses, just no answers. I wish I had more answers."
"This happens when we play each other so many times," Bogumil said.