Rivalry battle to Conant

Usually "how many" is good enough for the fan when adding up the points and looking at the final score.

The "how" was much more important to Conant boys basketball coach Tom McCormack and Schaumburg coach Matt Walsh after Conant's 57-53 Mid-Suburban West opening win Friday.

Despite leading from wire to wire, McCormack felt his team (4-1, 1-0) has a lot of improving to do.

"It's always a battle with Schaumburg," McCormack said, "but it was sloppily played. We're looking forward to getting back into the gym.

"Quite frankly, we can play better," McCormack said.

This rivalry game produced double-digit turnovers by both teams and a combined 42 personal fouls.

"Give all the credit to Conant," Walsh said. "They executed their game plan perfectly.

"I thought they were more physical than we were," Walsh said. "They look like a team that has played together for four years in high school and in the feeder program, and we look like a team trying to learn how to play together."

The Cougars were ahead 8-1 before Schaumburg's first field goal nearly halfway through the first quarter. The Saxons (2-4, 0-1) cut a 13-5 deficit to 13-10 in the last two minutes of the quarter.

Sixth man George Pessimisis put his mark on the game by scoring 6 of Conant's 19 second-quarter points, as the Cougars stretched their lead to 32-24 by halftime.

Pessimisis finished with 14 points, tied for team scoring honors with London Dokubo.

"We start thinking about this game as sixth graders," Pessimisis said. "It feels great, but it's a team thing. We only win because we're a team."

"With Schaumburg, we're always excited and hungry to get a win," Dokubo said.

Schaumburg's Kyle Bolger scored 8 of his 12 points in the third quarter, and the Saxons trimmed Conant's lead to 40-35, holding the visiting Cougars to just 8 points, 5 by Pessimisis.

Conant stretched the lead to as many as 9 points on three occasions in the fourth quarter, and each time, Schaumburg answered. A 3-pointer by Javon McDonald (game-high 16 points) cut the margin to 48-42 with 1:44 remaining.

A putback by Bolger made it 53-46 with 40.3 seconds left, and a tip-in by Mike Mallett (13 points) at the :13.2 mark followed by a 3 by Mallet with five seconds left ended the scoring with Conant holding on for the 4-point win.

"They played harder and smarter than we did," Walsh said. "They had great focus."