Wells, Grant sprint to OT triumph

Grant senior Sean Wells had little time to think at the end of the Bulldogs’ North Suburban Conference crossover at Stevenson on Saturday night.

With just seven seconds remaining and Grant down 2, Wells had the ball and the entire floor in front of him as time ticked away.

“All I could think about was the end of the Vernon Hills game (a 53-52 loss) last week,” Wells said. “I remember getting a great pass from my teammates and I didn’t finish. This time, I knew I had to finish.”

Using the speed that makes him among the best in the state of Illinois in track and field, Wells power-dribbled through the Stevenson defense to beat the buzzer and force overtime.

Once in OT, Grant took control and never let up as the Bulldogs won for the eighth time in 10 tries, 60-56 over a Patriot team that has dropped five straight.

“Sean is one of the quickest kids in Lake County and it turned into a foot race,” said Grant coach Wayne Bosworth. “It was a straight-up foot race and Wells is going to beat most kids to the hoop.”

Wells, who finished with 9 points, capped a wild comeback in the final minute for Grant (12-6). The host Patriots took a 49-45 lead on a runner by Michael Fleming but went ice cold over the final 63 seconds.

“Your confidence is certainly going to waver when you get scored upon and can’t build the lead,” Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. “We seemed to have it there at the end, but Grant played harder than us and didn’t give up.”

Jared Helmich took control for Grant in overtime, scoring 6 of his game-high 20 points. The Bulldogs led by as many as 5.

“We just knew that when we got to overtime we had one more chance,” said Helmich, who also grabbed 9 rebounds. “(Stevenson) was up 4 and when we came back I think that momentum carried over into overtime.”

Stevenson (10-6) battled back from an early deficit to take the lead on a long 3-pointer by Andy Stempel (9 points). Fleming then took control in the fourth quarter, scoring 7 of his co-team-best 12 points. Jalen Brunson also had 12 for Stevenson.

Grant’s rally started on a bucket by Ilya Kadushin (13 points) with 11 seconds left. Then a missed free throw with seven seconds left set up the Wells bucket to force overtime. Allen Lewis also finished in double figures for the Bulldogs with 12 points.