Warren snaps Conant's 8-game winning streak
As Warren's boys basketball team went to the bench after the third quarter Saturday night, confidence was emanating from the players.
Despite the fact the Blue Devils were trailing by 7 points and had just watched Conant's Tom Sotos drain a turnaround 3-pointer at the buzzer, Warren, led by standout junior Brandon Paul, was ready to fight back.
"We just kept playing," Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said. "Early in the year we would have let something like (Sotos' shot) bother us. These guys hung tough."
Anchored by a dazzling fourth-quarter performance from Paul, the Blue Devils, who had trailed for nearly the game's entirety, battled back to knock off Conant 53-49 in nonconference action Saturday night in Hoffman Estates.
"This was a really big win," said Paul, who had 26 points and 4 rebounds. "We came in knowing this was going to be a hard game, but we just wanted to come out with the win."
Just a day earlier, Conant (18-5) had clinched its second consecutive Mid-Suburban West title with a 51-42 victory over Hoffman Estates. While one might think perhaps the Cougars were still reveling in their conference title, coach Tom McCormack dismissed this notion.
"We tried to put (the division title) out of our mind, McCormack said after his team's 8-game winning streak ended. "Warren is a pretty good team. They made some shots and we didn't."
While Warren (13-9) was the first to score, it would be the Cougars who controlled the tempo of the game early. By limiting the Devils' fast break opportunities and distributing the ball extremely well, Conant went into the break with a 32-25 lead.
The Cougars built their first-half lead behind the solid shooting performances from their backcourt combo of junior Tony Rizzo (12 points) and Sotos (10 points, 3 rebounds).
Paul did not back down from the fourth-quarter challenge.
The 6-foot-3 junior, who has already verbally committed to play for Bruce Weber's Illini in 2010, knocked down three clutch 3-pointers to bring his team back into contention.
"Brandon Paul hit some great shots," Ramsey said. "He was outstanding tonight the way he hit those 3s in the fourth."
With 2:10 left in the game, and trailing by a basket, senior forward Jeff Kemp's lay-up off a miss tied it at 47-47.
Thirty seconds later, junior guard David Duncan knocked down a pair of free throws to give Warren the lead with 1:30 left in regulation and they would never look back.
Fittingly, it would be none other than Paul who blocked a last-ditch effort by Conant's Sotos, to wrap up the victory.
"I knew I had to do something to help our team," Paul said with a smile. "This really builds our confidence and helps us know that we can beat good teams."
Glenbrook South 55, Schaumburg 54: Everything needed to go perfectly as Schaumburg had a one-second chance to pull out a nonconference victory at Glenbrook South.
Dan Slowik's crosscourt inbound pass from just beyond midcourt over 6-foot-9 junior Notre Dame recruit Jack Cooley was on target to Brandon Bolger on the wing.
Bolger's shot from beyond the 3-point arc appeared to be on the mark as the buzzer sounded Saturday night at the Titan Dome in Glenview.
"We did a great job of executing the last play," said Schaumburg coach Bob Williams. "It was exactly the way we drew it up."
But Bolger's shot was a tad long and Schaumburg (13-9) saw a rally from an 8-point deficit in the final 2½ minutes fell just short as it lost its third straight 55-54.
"The good news is I thought we played better," Williams said. "Team-wise mentally and physically we played better than we did (Friday night's 56-51 loss to Fremd)."
Especially with leading scorer Cully Payne out again with a sprained left thumb and Bolger getting just 5 of his 14½-point average on 2-for-14 shooting.
Dan Slowik had a team-high 15 points and his lane drive got the Saxons within a point with five seconds left. Blake Mueller had 13 points and 3 assists and a lane drive with 55 seconds left.
Mick Trimarco provided a huge energy boost with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. So did Sean Everitt off the bench, as he had 8 points and started the rally from a 55-47 deficit with a 3 at 2:10.
"I thought the whole team played hard," Williams said.
The Saxons were able to beat the clock twice with 3s. But Slowik's from the top of the key for a 29-28 halftime lead came after an 8-0 Glenbrook South (11-13) run.
And reserve Justin Swiercz's for a 40-40 tie after three preceded the Titans hitting 7 of 8 shots in the next 5½ minutes.
"It's picked up as the year has gone by and people have got more confidence," said Cooley, who scored his team's first 13 points in the opening 4:41 en route to a game-high 21 on 8-for-9 shooting, 11 rebounds and 3 assists.
"That's been our bane -- we take some time off," Williams said. "Those two stretches really come back to kill you when you look at losing by one."
Glenbrook South, on a 4-game winning streak with a 60-51 upset of New Trier on Friday, missed two 1-and-1s in the final 22 seconds. But Cooley's with four seconds left was batted around before Perrish Bell finally grabbed it and called timeout.
"Tonight was definitely a survival game," said Titans coach Scott Nemecek. "Schaumburg played really well. Without even their best player out there shows how good they are."
-- Marty Maciaszek
St. Patrick 69, St. Viator 46: It was a strange week for St. Viator.
The Lions had to wait seven days in between games when bad weather postponed their contest with Notre Dame.
The time off seemed to energize the Lions as they jumped out to a 9-4 lead and held a 16-14 edge midway through the second quarter.
But then the host Shamrocks (17-5, 10-1) showed why they're on top of the East Suburban Catholic Conference standings.
St. Patrick ended the first half on an 11-1 run and opened the third quarter on a 15-2 run on the way to a 69-46 win over St. Viator in Chicago.
"We talked about (the week off) and I don't want to make excuses," Lions coach Joe Majkowski said. "But the reality was this was not a typical week for us in terms of practice because of a couple of situations.
"But that's no excuse. St. Pat's just played a great ballgame. They played defense real well and they shot the ball real well."
St. Viator (9-12, 3-7) shot 25 percent in the second and third quarters and was outscored 32-11. The Shamrocks hit 14-of-24 shots during that span.
"We came out with the right mentality," said Lions guard Jim Platania (12 points). "But sometimes when your shots don't fall you start getting down on yourself.
"I still think we have confidence but sometimes when they get momentum it's hard to turn it back our way."
Jerome Robinson had 23 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks for St. Patrick, which held a 35-14 rebounding edge.
"They definitely got after us on the boards," said Platania. "I'd say that definitely hurt us with their second-chance points. It was pretty slanted. So we have to do a better job of boxing out."
Eleven players scored for the Shamrocks including Tim Traversa (12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists), Bryant Smith (11 points, 5 rebounds) and Bradley Bruno (7 rebounds, 4 assists).
"We just guarded a little bit better (in the second half)," said St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey. "Everybody wants the score to be 20-2 after the first few minutes. It's high school basketball and they're going to score some points. But my guys played 32 minutes."
Michael Landuyt led St. Viator with 17 points. Sophomore Alan Aboona had 6 points and 2 steals while sophomore Richard McLoughlin had a team-high 5 rebounds.
-- Joe Esse
Lake Zurich 67, Meadows 61: Lake Zurich continued its modest roll Saturday with a 67-61 non-conference win at Rolling Meadows.
The cost may have been a few hairs falling out of coach John Zarr's head.
The Bears jumped out to a 23-point lead in the third quarter, only to see the Mustangs roar back to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. But Lake Zurich was able to ice it at the line, hitting 5-of-8 in the final minute, to hang on to the win, the Bears' third in their last four games.
"I keep saying to myself the importance, even with a lead, senior leadership is so important," Zarr said. "We're a junior team. You're still looking for that leadership in times like that.
"I think our juniors learned a lesson today. I think we're going to be a better basketball team for this. I just don't want to go through it again."
A 3-pointer from Lake Zurich junior Connor Mooney gave the Bears (11-10) a 46-23 lead midway through the third quarter. But Meadows (11-12) started to chip away behind star senior Kyle Gaedele and reserve guard Richie Kemph.
By the 2:17 mark of the fourth quarter, the Mustangs tied the score at 56-56 on back-to-back 3s from Kemph. He scored 16 of his 19 points during that 33-10 tear. Gaedele scored 11 of his team-high 21 points in the run, including eight straight at one point.
"I'm real proud of our kids, that we battled back like that," Meadows coach Kevin Katovich said. "I'm a little disappointed we got down that far in the first place. They didn't quit. They didn't give up. So, I'm real proud of them."
Meadows was able to come back to tie it but could never take the lead in its fifth straight loss. A pair of Austin Cox free throws with 2:04 left made it 58-56 Bears, and the Mustangs were never able to tie the score again. Mooney iced it with three free throws in the final seconds.
That was a far cry from the first quarter for Mooney. He shot an air-ball on his first shot of the game, drawing the ire of the Meadows crowd. But after going scoreless in the first quarter, he wound up with a game-high 33 points.
"Basically, coach just told me to keep shooting, get it out of my head," Mooney said. "When fans do that, it's all mental. I just had to block it out and work through it. Just keep shooting. An air ball is just like a miss. You have to know the next one is going to go in."
It was the final home game for the nine Meadows seniors, including Gaedele, who has scored more than 1,000 career points in purple.
"Kid for kid, every single kid is a terrific kid with terrific families," Katovich said. "It's been a great joy to coach them. Hopefully I'll be able to coach them for a lot longer."
-- Paul Johnson