Rolling Meadows won the game that really counts.
Two weeks ago, No. 9 Fremd knocked off Rolling Meadows in the Mid-Suburban League’s championship game. Wednesday, in the semifinals of the Hersey Class AA sectional, Rolling Meadows turned the tables and ended Fremd’s season with a 58-57 victory.
The Mustangs will face Elgin in the sectional final Friday.
“We talked about not making the same mistakes we did during the conference championship game, and that is not letting Fremd’s pressure get to us,” Rolling Meadows coach Dave Brown said. “We showed a lot of poise down the stretch.”
Five times Fremd cut Rolling Meadows’ lead to one but could never grab the lead. Rolling Meadows (19-10) led by as many as 11 midway through the third quarter, but Fremd went on a 14-4 run to close the quarter and open the fourth. Rolling Meadows wouldn’t crack.
Rob Garnes led the Mustangs with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Glenn Paddack added 10 points. Eddie Hebert led Fremd (24-4) with 25.
“We prepared a lot better for this game than our loss to them two week ago,” Garnes said. “We stressed playing better defense, and we played with more confidence this time.”
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East Aurora: West Aurora rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime, then held on for a 60-58 victory over St. Charles. Derrick Perry led West Aurora with 15 points and Andre Perry added 14.
Jeff Pallija scored 18 to lead St. Charles (21-8). Ron Johnson, retiring with the loss, ends his coaching career with a 710-403 record.
“I’ll certainly miss coaching, and this ranks right up there among my toughest losses,” Johnson said.
West Aurora will face Naperville North in Friday’s sectional final.
Lyons Township: It’s an unenviable task, but Proviso East coach Andrew Johnson would have it no other way.
His team cruised to an 81-65 sectional semifinal victory over De La Salle and earns the right to go head to head with the state’s second-ranked team, Fenwick, Friday night for the tournament title.
“We’ve got to play even better defensively, we’ve got to rebound better, we’ve got to do everything better,” he said. “We have to forget about tonight. But this is what we wanted. There are 14 other teams out there not able to do this, so we feel lucky.”
Junior Perry Smith led the Pirates (22-6) with a game-high 25 points, including 17 in the first half. Steven Hunter added 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, and John Moore had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Joliet: Trailing by four late in the third quarter, Joliet clamped down on defense and held Lockport without a field goal for more than 10 minutes as the Steelman prevailed 53-49.
Joliet faces Hillcrest in Friday’s sectional final.
Derrick Martin led Joliet (22-6) with 12 points and DeAndre Cornelius chipped in with 11.
“Defense has always been our hallmark here,” Joliet coach Bob Koskosky said. “You’d hope we’d step it up, and I think we did. I was proud of the team tonight.”
Vincent Hamilton’s 13 points led Lockport (15-13).
Oswego: Brother Rice knocked off Downers Grove South 69-57 in overtime, outscoring the Mustangs 13-1 in the extra session. Pat Harvey’s 23 points led the Crusaders (23-6), and Kevin Crowe (18 points) scored six of the Crusaders’ OT points.
Said Brother Rice coach Pat Richardson: “I said to our guys, `They’re tired and we’re in good shape. If we can rebound, we can run and get some easy baskets.’ “
Jason Hogrefe, who nailed a three-pointer with 5 seconds left to tie the game at 56-56 and force overtime, finished with 16 points for Downers South (18-10).
Rockford Boylan: Sammy Bacino poured in 23 points and Jamie Castillo added 14, including the game-winning shot, to help Rockford East (18-12) edge Crystal Lake Central 62-61.
Tim Mosolino collected 12 of his 23 points in the first half for Central (23-6).
Rockford East will face Rockford Boylan Friday for the sectional championship.
“I’m not exactly looking forward to playing Boylan, but we’re happy for the chance,” E-Rabs coach Mike Carroll said. “We feel good we got this far.”
Waukegan: Antioch thought it had its semifinal game with Waukegan won when Chris Groth drove to the basket for a layup with 8 seconds remaining. But he was called for a charge, the game went to overtime and Waukegan (17-11) prevailed 40-37.
“That was a terrible call,” Antioch coach Jeff Dresser said. “The Waukegan player had his body turned, and it was a horrible way to end the game.”
Dominique Jones led Waukegan with 13 points. Don Lackey scored 19 point to lead Antioch (15-11).
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