Wheeling Hardwood Classic

A scriptwriter would have a difficult time coming up with an ending to top Libertyville's 71-68 double-overtime victory over Naperville Central in the championship bracket quarterfinal of the 30th Annual Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic boys basketball tournament Thursday.

Libertyville advances to play Loyola at 7:15 p.m. today, while Central plays Notre Dame at 3:45 p.m.

Trailing by 7 points with 1:58 left in the first extra period, Libertyville found a way to force a second overtime and then survive a miss as time was running down.

The miracle the Wildcats (5-5) needed came in the form of a foul as time was expiring in the first overtime. Central's Matt Jones was called for a foul on Myles Burton at the horn.

With the foul lane empty, Burton drained both free throws to tie the game at 61-61 and force a second overtime.

"There was a lot of pressure," Burton said. "Everyone in the building was looking. I knew if I messed up it was the end of the game."

Before Burton kept Libertyville's chances alive, Wildcats coach Scott Bogumil's technical foul in midway through the fourth quarter and Drew Crawford's 2 free throws could have proved costly.

"The kids bailed me out," Bogumil said.

Erik Jensen, who scored 15 points, hit a 3-pointer with 2:22 left in the second OT to give Libertyville a 67-64 lead. Dan Ondik made 2 of 3 from the line with 1:54 left to make it 67-66. Greg Vente scored with 1:37 left, but the Red Hawks answered on a tip by Mike Schmitz.

A Libertyville turnover gave Central the ball with 15 seconds left, trailing 69-68. The Red Hawks cleared out for Crawford (17 points) who worked for the last shot, an 8-footer that bounced off the rim.

Joey Aiello's layup at the buzzer added to the winning margin.

"It was a good shot," Crawford said. "My rhythm was off all game."

Part of that may have been the defensive work done by Vente, who held Crawford to 3 points in the first half.

"Greg is a great defender," Bogumil said. "We always put him on their best guy. It's all about defense with him."

"It was a team effort," Vente said.

The Red Hawks took the loss hard, especially since they were leading until Burton's free throws on what many on their bench felt was an iffy foul call as time was expiring.

"It was tough to play the second overtime, when we thought we had won after the first," said Central coach Pete Kramer. "After you play as hard as we did, first to have the horn blow and then hear the whistle blow, the kids took it very hard."

Central's leading scorer was Harrison Daniels with 21 points, including 5 of 8 from behind the 3-point arc. Aiello led Libertyville with 17, and Josh Trees pitched in with 10.

N. Chicago 71, Prospect 68: A lot of teams might have folded under the tremendous defensive pressure of North Chicago.

On Thursday night at the 30th annual Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic, Prospect was not one of those teams.

The Knights, trailing by double digits for most of the second half, stormed back and took a late lead but couldn't sustain the rally.

North Chicago, thanks to some key late free throws, defeated Prospect 71-68.

"We kept ourselves in it, and it came down to 1 shot," said Prospect senior Alex Toth, who scored a team-high 19 points and did yeoman's work under the boards.

"We were down 12 starting the fourth quarter," added Knights coach John Camardella, "and I think that within three minutes we had tied it up. The kids did exactly what we asked them to do."

But it wasn't enough for the Knights (7-5) as their 3-game winning streak was snapped. They'll play at 5:30 p.m. today in a rematch of a dramatic 58-57 win on Nov. 30 over Mid-Suburban East rival Wheeling.

Six-foot-2 North Chicago (9-1) forward Kentrall Wilson (22 points) did most of the first-half damage for the Warhawks, battling the taller Knights in the paint and leading his team to a 35-30 halftime lead.

Then 6-6 Prospect junior Kevin Reed came alive. Reed, who was held to 2 points in the first half, scored 13 of his 18 points in the third quarter, but North Chicago was able to extend the advantage to 57-45.

Then Prospect, behind Reed, Toth, Jason Leblebijian (16 points) and Jeff Heiden (9 points) made a run.

A layup by Austin Sobey tied the game at 63-63and when Sobey fed Reed for a layup, Prospect led with 1:55 left.

But North Chicago (9-1) responded and when DeShawn Chambliss, who had earlier missed 4 free throws, canned 2 clutch throws from the line, the Warhawks led by 3 with 28 seconds left.

Prospect rushed the ball downcourt but couldn't get off a 3 attempt before time expired.

"We were down 3," said Camardella of the final moments, "so I wanted them to score as quickly as possible.

"It's disappointing that it had to end like this, but a game like this reminds you why basketball is such a great sport."

North Chicago will play Stevenson in today's 8:45 p.m. semifinal.

-- Larry Weindruch

Stevenson 56, Wheeling 47: Not too much rattles this Stevenson boys basketball team -- although Wheeling came close.

The Patriots, leading virtually throughout in a quarterfinal matchup at the Wildcat Hardwood Classic, never got comfortable, either.

Every time the Patriots (9-3) opened what appeared to be a "big-enough" lead, Wheeling charged back.

"They would hit some 3s," said Stevenson forward Dylan Richter.

"We didn't want to slow it down, but we didn't want take a bad shot either," said Patriots coach Pat Ambrose.

In the end, they took a lot of high-percentage shots, hit 17-of-18 free throws including 9-for-9 in the fourth quarter -- and captured a 56-47 victory and a date in the semifinals tonight North Chicago.

Richter, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, put the Patriots on his back in the third quarter.

He hit 5-of-8 field goals, mostly down low, where he was unstoppable -- even for Wheeling shot-blocker supreme Alex Chery.

"He's a kid that's tough to guard," said Ambrose, after Richter kept Stevenson ahead through three before handing it over to guard Kevin Stineman.

Stineman's 4 field goals, including three 3-pointers, all came in the second half. He was also 6-of-6 at the foul line for a team-high 17 points.

His clutch 3 followed by a baseline drive late in the fourth quarter gave Stevenson an 8-point lead.

"We lost in this tournament last year, but we got to the championship game," Richter said.

"We're looking to get some wins in this tournament," said Ambrose.

Coach Lou Wool of Wheeling (5-7) was pleased with the effort, although not the result.

"The big thing for us is our chemistry is getting better," Wool said. "We're starting to be a cohesive unit."

And they showed it. Shooting guard Chris McClellan (19 points) bedeviled the Pats with his long-range shooting and ballhawking.

He and backcourt mate Michael Barton took turns running the break effectively. And with Chery (6 blocks) and James Kurtz (11 points) getting the job done inside, the Wildcats grabbed the lead briefly in the third quarter on Sayer Jackson's leaping leaner.

But Stineman and Kurtz took over from there.

"They did a nice job. They've been through a lot of wars together," Ambrose said. "We're making progress."

-- Howard Schlossberg

Loyola 54, Notre Dame 53: Two-time defending champion Loyola survived as Rob Belcore had 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Zach Abraham had 12 points and hit four 3s for the second straight game for ND.

St. Viator 50, Niles N. 47: Mike Landuyt (12 points, 7 rebounds) and Alan Aboona (10 points) led St. Viator (4-6).

Maine W. 60, Streamwood 52: Adis Kadiric (21 points, three 3s) and Tom Solis (11 points) led Maine West (3-10).