Cary-Grove tops Grayslake C. in elite FVC matchup

State tournament drama arrived a week in advance. Heroes emerged. Victorious players hugged each other, screamed and jumped up and down.

And a first-place conference crossover played out like a championship game, just without the winning squad hoisting any trophy.

"That was probably one of the best games I've ever played in," Grayslake Central guard Skyler Jessop, a four-year varsity player, said after she and her teammates lost to visiting Cary-Grove 58-54 in overtime of the Fox Valley Conference's first-place crossover Thursday night. "I felt like a playoff game, like a sectional championship or something. Our student section was into it. Both teams' were. It was intense."

That was the plan, after all, after Grayslake Central edged Cary-Grove 42-38 on the Trojans' home court Dec. 2. Grayslake Central (23-5) won the FVC Fox Divsion, while Cary-Grove (18-8) captured the FVC Valley.

"When we played each other in game six of the season, we said, 'Let's make sure that we're playing together again at the end of the season,' " Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert said. "It was an incredible game. Both ways."

While Jessop was sensational in posting a career-high 27 points and 6 steals, and helping the Rams erase a five-point deficit in the final half minute of regulation to force OT, Cary-Grove, which trailed by 10 in the third quarter, got heroics from Olivia Jakubicek and Paige Lincicum.

Jakubicek scored a team-high 19 points, including 4 in overtime, and grabbed 9 rebounds. Lincicum had 12 points, 8 steals and 5 rebounds and a pair of satisfying free throws to finally clinch victory and silence the Trojans' resilient opponent.

Lincicum went to the foul line with 1.6 seconds left in OT and Cary-Grove up 56-54. She had been 4 of 12 from the line.

"I knew I wasn't hitting my free throws, and I was disappointed in myself," Lincicum said. "I knew I couldn't let that affect me like that."

She didn't.

Lincicum sank both free throws.

In the closing seconds of regulation, she nearly sank the game-winner on an aggressive drive. But her shot rolled off the rim so slowly that you could read the manufacturer's name on the ball.

"It was like in slow motion," Lincicum said.

Much earlier in the game, Cary-Grove enjoyed an 18-16 lead after Megan Leisten scored her only basket with 6:04 left in the second quarter. But the Trojans didn't score again in the half. Grayslake Central went into halftime up 26-18 thanks to a 10-0 run.

"We were not happy at halftime," Saffert said. "It was rather loud at halftime."

The Trojans went down 32-22 in the third, but they got 3 big 3-pointers from Alyssa Lee after halftime. Her first got her squad within 35-32 after three, her second put the Trojans up 41-39 with 2:44 left in the fourth, and her last gave them the lead for good 50-48 with 2:56 to go in OT.

"She's been getting hot lately," Saffert said of the senior. "We go to our little '40' set, set her in the corner and make (the defense) work. Then we kick it once in a while to her when she's open."

Cary-Grove led 46-41 after a three-point play by Joslyn Nicholson (9 points) with 36 seconds left in the fourth. But the Rams' Claire Brennan (10 points, 7 steals) hit both ends of a 1-and-1, Jessop forced a jump ball on C-G's ensuing inbounds play and then finished an inbounds feed from Brennan. Jessop hit the second of 2 free throws with 6.3 seconds left, tying the score at 45-45.

"The past few games I've been struggling," Jessop said. "I just try to do whatever I can to win, whether it's scoring, rebounding, passing, whatever it is."

Brennan's 2 free throws early in overtime had Grayslake Central up 48-47, but Cary-Grove was in control after Lee (9 points) hit her third clutch 3.

Morgan Dahlstrom had 8 points and 7 rebounds for Grayslake Central, which had its seven-game winning streak snapped.

"I thought that was a great game to get us ready for the postseason," Rams coach Steve Ikenn said. "Both teams had a little trouble handling the basketball tonight (26 turnovers apiece), but I thought we showed an unbelievable amount of heart.

"Playing in a physical game like this," Ikenn added, "against a good, well-coached team, having the lead kind of fritter away and then being down and being able to come back, I think will help us greatly come playoff time."