Crystal Lake South rallies past Marmion in OT
Crystal Lake South's two leading scorers Tyler Miller and Damir Glamoc were on the bench saddled with three fouls for most of the second quarter Monday at the Class 3A Burlington Central regional.
Junior center Casey Haskin was popped in the mouth in the first quarter, left the game and never came back.
Tenth-seeded Marmion Academy connected on 8-of-15 from the floor in the first half and led sixth-seeded South 31-17 at intermission.
With Miller and Glamoc back in the lineup, the Gators (17-13) rallied to outscore the Cadets 37-20 in the second half and overtime to pull out an exhilarating 54-51 win in quarterfinal action.
South will play top-seeded Burlington Central at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a semifinal contest. The host Rockets defeated South in two close Fox Valley Conference games this season by 6 and 5 points.
"We had enough adversity in this game and the kids overcame it," said South coach Matt LePage. "To play the whole second quarter without Tyler and Damir was tough and we missed Casey most of the game. We showed our toughness and we played with more composure in the second half. It was a tough win for our kids. Give Marmion credit. They played very well."
Down by 14, the Gators outscored the Cadets 14-4 in the third quarter and sliced the lead to 35-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Miller scored 5 points with a 3-pointer and Glamoc canned a pair of shots in the lane during the pivotal third quarter.
Marmion's upset seemed complete when freshman Collin Wainscott buried a 3-pointer with 12.1 seconds left to give the Cadets a 46-44 lead.
The Gators set up for the last-second shot. Miller's shot missed but Ryan Murtaugh was there for the putback which tied the game at 46-46.
"Ryan was in the right spot," said LePage. "That was huge to send the game into overtime."
In the extra session, the Gators scored the first 5 points and were able to hold on for a 3-point win.
Brock Jewson, who made 12-of-15 from the free-throw line, led the Gators with 18 points.
Miller added 17 and Glamoc scored 7.
"We knew we had no margin for error in the second half," said Glamoc. "We really upped the defensive pressure."
LePage praised his team.
"These kids have been fighting and battling all season long," said LePage. "We were on the ropes tonight and came through."
Will Wainscott led Marmion (5-25) with 16 while Collin Wainscott scored 11.