Boys basketball roundup: Buffalo Grove stuns Hoffman Estates in 4 overtimes; Lake Zurich, Fremd, Warren among other winners
Although it took four overtimes, the third time was definitely the charm for Buffalo Grove.
Buffalo Grove scored the first five points of the fourth overtime and then held on to stun fifth-seed Hoffman Estates 62-58 Wednesday in Hoffman Estates. The 12th-seed Bison (13-18) will take on Stevenson Friday in the regional final at Hoffman.
Hoffman Estates had an opportunity to win the game at the end of the third overtime. Leading 54-53, the Hawks (27-5) drew a charge with just over five seconds left. The Bison, which had lost two previous meetings to Hoffman, fouled the Hawks, but Hoffman missed both free throws.
With time winding down, Hoffman fouled on a desperation shot with .5 seconds left. Buffalo Grove’s Dylan Ronczkowski hit one free throw to send the game to a fourth overtime where they won it.
Alex Sirbu led Buffalo Grove with 27 points while Edwin Karnauchovas had 16 points. Hoffman was led by Cameron James who had 21 points.
Stevenson 62, Conant 41: Stevenson (20-10) trailed by three late in the first half. But the fourth-seeded Patriots rallied behind Rocco Pagliocca’s 17 points, Donny Williams’ 15 points and Aidan Albrecht’s 14 points. Jakub Glowacki led Conant (9-21) with 18 points.
At Schaumburg
Fremd 64, Larkin 42: Top-seeded Fremd cruised behind Rafael Pinto’s 19 points, Tommy Moffett’s 16, Jordan Williams with 13 and Dylan O’Connor’s 7.
Lake Zurich 45, Schaumburg 34: Trailing 32-29 with seven minutes to play, Lake Zurich (14-15) scored the next 12 points and held eighth-seeded Schaumburg (18-12) scoreless for the next six minutes to pull off the upset. Adrian Riep led Lake Zurich with 17 points, Kain Kretscschmar added 12 points and Evan Peterson had 8. Ray Black and Tony Horton each had 12 points for Schaumburg.
At Palatine
Palatine 61, Dundee-Crown 27: Palatine (28-4) bolted to a 15-4 lead and never looked back. The second-seeded Pirates were led by Abram Williams who had 19 points and Brady May who added 11 as nine different players scored for Palatine.
Barrington 73, Maine West 34: Oliver Gray knocked down 22 points, Evan Shechtman had 18 points on 6 three-pointers and Jackson Roberts 12 points as the Broncos (12-14) held Maine West to 15 second half points. Dayvion Tate led Maine West (14-17) with 17 points.
At Prospect
Hersey 54, South Elgin 43: Leading 27-24 in the third quarter, Hersey (19-7) scored 8 unanswered points to pull away from the Storm (11-22). Jake Nawrot led the third-seeded Huskies with 19 points while Charlie Pomis had 15 points and Tristan Trotter 5 points.
Rolling Meadows 35, Prospect 27: With the game tied at 27-27 with two minutes to play, Meadows’ Marty Lesner (10 points) hit a basket to put the Mustangs up for good. Adrew Krestel (20 points) would then add six free throws to salt away the win.
At Warren
Warren 81, Zion Benton 32: Warren (29-3) pulled away from a five-point lead at the end of the first quarter to roll to the win. Jaxson Davis led top-seed Warren with 21 points while Braylon Walker added 18, Avonn King 14 and Tayte Cordova 13.
Libertyville 64, Grant 49: Libertyville (16-12) slowly pulled away late to earn the victory. Six-foot-9 center Bryce Wegrzyn led Libertyville with 29 points and Jack Cenar added 13. D.J. Stitts led Grant (15-12) with 17 points, while fellow junior Charles Schlict had 14.
At Jacobs
Waukegan 72, Mundelein 33: Second-seeded Waukegan (23-7), behind a 40-point effort from Simereon Carter, ended the season for Mundelein (6-26), which was led by Brandon Newell’s 13 points.
At Maine East
Maine East 60, Glenbrook North 54: Maine East, which lost to Glenbrook North just eight days ago, picked up the win when it counted most. The Demons (20-10), who have their first 20-win season since 1977 and first playoff win since 2009, will face three-time defending champion DePaul in Friday’s regional final. Jayden Dozie led Maine East with 20 points
At Evanston
Niles North 67, Maine South 62: Maine South (12-18) fell short in its attempt to beat the CSL North winner.
At Glenbard West
Glenbard West 78, Leyden 62: Glenbard West ended the season for Leyden (20-10)
Class 3A
At. St. Viator
St. Viator 56, Disney 26: Viator (20-11) made sure there was no magic with Disney (10-13). Vinny Corrado Jr. led the Lions with 12 points.
Lakes 57, North Chicago 52: Lakes (17-13) moved into the regional title game behind 21 points from Carter Martin and 10 points from Ben Newcomb.
At Lake Forest
Grayslake Central 55, Northside Prep 39: Leading 29-23 in the third quarter, fourth-seeded Grayslake Central (22-9) scored 16 unanswered points to surge to the victory. Cole Halverson led the Rams with 24 points while Carson Woods and Alex Granville each had 7 points.
Lake Forest 64, Antioch 38: Lake Forest (14-16) built a 35-13 halftime lead and cruised past Antioch (6-25).
At Deerfield
Carmel 55, Grayslake North 43: Carmel (13-19) picked up the victory behind Ethan Matz’ 21 points and Preston Dahm’s 14 points. The Corsairs will take on Deerfield in Friday’s regional final after the Warriors beat Roosevelt 83-25. Grayslake North ended its season 10-21.
At Wauconda
Wauconda 78, CICS Northtown 28: Wauconda (25-7) had an easy time with its visitors from the Chicago Public League. Alex Ortega led the third-seeded Bulldogs with 23 points. Leo Brinias added 13 points, Cole Plucinski had 11 points and Tony Salemi and Austin Carlsen each had 10 points.
Vernon Hills 81 Amundsen 64: Vernon Hills (22-10) built a 43-29 halftime lead, and the Cougars never let the Vikings closer than 9 from there.
Class 1A
At Somonauk
Schaumburg Christian 64, MCC Academy 58: After knocking off Trinity Oak Christian Academy 73-47 on Monday, Schaumburg Christian fell on Wednesday.
-Mike McGraw and Cole Sheeks contributed to this roundup