Girls basketball: McCrea’s layup in closing seconds lifts St. Viator to third straight regional title
St. Viator went “Navy” to sink Lake Forest 30-29 in the title game of the Class 3A Antioch regional Thursday.
St. Viator (19-14) will meet second-seeded Wauconda next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Grayslake Central sectional semifinalsl. Wauconda (26-2) beat Streamwood 47-34 to win their regional.
The Lions posted their second win over Lake Forest in the last 12 days. Viator knocked off Lake Forest 48-42 in overtime on Feb. 7 at Lake Forest.
It was the third consecutive regional title for the Lions and their ninth in the last 10 playoff seasons.
“There was never a quit or a thought that we were going to lose this game,” St. Viator coach Kyle Braheny said. “I think we are building something nice here. And seeing the girls grow like this is very impressive. “
Trailing by one with 15 seconds left, the Lions’ Kalin McCrea and Emily Walberg used a formation called “Navy” which was to double-team the Lake Forest player with the ball. Walberg’s long arms popped the ball loose and she was able to recover the loose ball.
“We had Navy on,” Walberg said. “I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I turned and looked and found Gabriella.”
Walberg quickly passed the ball Gabriella Scaravalle , who then tossed the ball downcourt to a speeding McCrea, who laid the ball in for the game winner with 13.6 seconds left.
“At the moment, I was hoping that I would not miss,” McCrea said. “The whole game they were not getting back quickly, so I was hoping I could exploit that. I want to thank Emily and Gabby for those passes.”
St. Viator came up huge on defense all night. The Lions forced 24 turnovers and allowed just seven field goals by Lake Forest (15-16).
“We didn’t shoot well either tonight,” Braheny said. “But we have played great defense all season. We just knew we had to get that last stop.”
St. Viator appeared to be in control with a minute to go and leading 28-24. But Lake Forest knocked down a three-pointer. Then just 15 seconds later they got a steal and basket to take a 29-28 lead.
After a Viator missed shot with 20 seconds to play, “Navy” rose to the occasion for the Lions to get them win.
Bella Gounaris led St. Viator with 13 points while McCrea had 12 points.