Zion-Benton weathers Lake Zurich's challenge
Lake Zurich knew it could play with Zion-Benton on Friday night as the Bears visited the Zee-Bees in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division boys basketball finale for both teams.
And despite very different records heading into the contest, the underdog Bears held a surprising 52-43 lead over the Zee-Bees with 5:57 to play.
But as has been the case for most of the season, things would not go well for Lake Zurich (3-23, 0-12) in the end as Zion-Benton (19-10, 8-4) went on a 15-1 run in exactly four minutes after that point before capturing a 63-55 victory.
With the win, and losses by Stevenson and Lake Forest Friday night, the Zee-Bees will play in the NSC title game Wednesday night at Prairie Division champion North Chicago.
An inside hoop by Lake Zurich's Chris Baumann gave the Bears that 9-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Rolland Griffin and Dondre Osborne and a driving basket by Ohio State-bound Lenzelle Smith (game-high 17 points) quickly cut the lead to 52-51 with 4:22 to play.
A free throw by Lake Zurich's Mike Boyd gave the Bears their final lead at 53-51 with 4:09 remaining. But 2 free throws by Griffin, a 3-pointer by Smith, and an inside basket by Cordaryus Craigen (15 points) gave Zion-Benton the lead for good at 56-53 with 3:14 to go.
"They (Zion-Benton) finally decided to take things over and we didn't have an answer for them," said Lake Zurich coach John Zarr, whose team was only outrebounded 29-28 overall. "I thought the kids executed well, we just couldn't get the job done down the stretch. It's tough on the kids and tough on the coaching staff, but there's some things we can hang our hats on."
A driving basket by Aaron Lewandowski cut the lead to 58-55 to give the Bears a glimmer of hope with 1:34 to play. But Smith hit 2 free throws with 40.3 seconds left before ultimately throwing down a breakaway dunk with 13 seconds left to account for the final score.
"Lake Zurich is a solid team and for over three quarters they played us as well as any team to be honest with you," said Zion-Benton coach Don Kloth. "Our kids knew it was going to be tough, and I think in the last five or six minutes our defense picked it up in terms of intensity."
The Bears trailed 15-14 after one quarter before taking a 28-24 halftime lead as they hit 5-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half. Lewandowski hit an off-balance desperation 3-pointer with a defender in his face to end the first half. Zion-Benton shot 49 percent from the floor overall to 41 percent for Lake Zurich.
Senior Marko Grcic led the Bears with 10 of his team-high 16 points in the second half while Lewandowski had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Boyd had 12 points, including three 3-pointers while Zion-Benton's Owen Worthington also hit double figures with 12 points. Griffin and Eric Pasiewicz had 8 points apiece for the Zee-Bees.
"I'm very proud of the way our kids played," said Zarr, whose team led 48-39 after three quarters. "They weren't intimidated, and our kids battled all night."