Senn ends it for Grayslake North

All season, Grayslake North's boys basketball team had made a habit of exceeding expectations.

The result was 17 regular-season victories and a No. 2 seed in the Class 3A Ridgewood sectional.

And everything appeared to be breaking right for Grayslake North (17-9) on Tuesday night. Teddy Ludwick poured in a game-high 24 points and had 6 rebounds, and A.J. Fish and David Sparks had 16 points apiece.

But the Knights let go of a 14-point lead in the final quarter and were stunned by No. 15 Senn 68-66 in Fenton regional semifinal play in Bensenville.

"We're still proud of what we have accomplished," Ludwick said. " Before the year we had an expectation of 10 or 12 wins. All the guys came out in practice and worked hard. It showed that we were able to accomplish a lot of things that nobody thought we were able to."

The combination of Ludwick, Fish and Sparks pulled together to help the Knights earn a 55-46 lead starting the fourth quarter, and it had swelled to 62-48 with 5:28 remaining.

"(Senn) switched back to a zone and we got a little complacent," Ludwick said. "We couldn't get shots to drop and they slowly creeped back into the game. All the momentum swung their way.

"It's been our Achilles' heel, the five-minute stretches of not scoring and letting other teams back into the game."

The Bulldogs scored 17 straight points, during which Quinell Johnson (17 points) made 2 free throws to put Senn up 67-62 with 17 seconds left.

"We just never gave up," said Senn coach Anthony Colston, whose team is now 6-13. "We knew we still had a chance. I knew as long as the clock is running and we get possession, we would be all right.

"We just played defense, made sure we got block-outs and key rebounds."

Grayslake North tried to recover after Jake Geary and Ludwick made a couple of late baskets.

But the Knights, down to their final seconds, trailed by 2 points with the ball and couldn't get a final shot off.

"It was a great year, but it was unfortunate to see it end like this," Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh said. "Give Senn credit. A lot of it, Senn was able to get to the basket and the other part, I think we were hoping the clock would run out. Obviously, that wasn't the way we played all year."

Lamont Dawkins led Senn with 22 points and Aaron Viadores added 16.

Senn will next play in the Fenton regional final Friday against Wednesday's winner between No. 7 Fenton and No. 10 Chicago Academy.