Metea Valley tops Rolling Meadows in OT
Rolling Meadows gave unbeaten Metea Valley all it could handle at the inaugural Hinsdale South Tournament.
The end result was a 69-64 overtime loss to Metea Valley.
“In the overtime we kind of got away from what kept us in the ball game,” said Rolling Meadows coach Kevin Katovich. “We gave up too many offensive boards to them.”
Another factor was Kenny Obendorf connecting on 7 of 9 shots, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, on his way to scoring 20 points.
Obendorf, a senior, hit a back-breaking 3 pointer with 1:10 left in the overtime to give Metea Valley a 65-62 lead. Two free throws by Ryan Solomon (12 points) made the score 67-62 with :38 left.
Michael Rose (9 points, 10 rebounds) hit 2 free throws with :26 left to narrow the margin to 67-64.
Rolling Meadows came up with a steal on the inbounds full-court pass but was tied up in the front court and the ball went to Metea Valley on the alternate possession.
Tresean Mackey hit 2 final free throws with 9.5 left.
“We came up with two big defensive stops when we needed them,” said Metea Valley coach Bob Vozza. “One just before regulation ended and then the jump ball.”
Rolling Meadows’ Brian Nelms (12 points, 4 assists) went for the winning shot with 1.9 left in regulation, but LaShawn Cargo stripped Nelms of the ball during the attempt.
Rolling Meadows (7-5) led 28-27 at halftime, then built two 9-point leads, at 36-27 and 39-30, to start the third quarter.
Metea Valley (10-0) responded with an 11-0 run. Cargo (8 points) hit a 3 pointer to start the run. Obendorf connected on a 3-point play, and then a 3-pointer before a Sean Davis basket finished the run.
“We never felt that we were out of it at that point,” said Obendorf.
“Kenny’s been coming up with big baskets for us all year,” said Vozza. “He’s our leader and he were able to run the plays for him like the one in the overtime. Give Rolling Meadows credit — they really gave us a lot of trouble with their match-up zone.”
Tyler Gaedele led all scorers with 22 points, including 3 3s for Meadows.
“We’re close to being where we want to be as a team,” said Katovich. “Overall we’re headed in the right direction.”
Rolling Meadows will face Minooka at 4:30 p.m. today.