Every time Sandburg built a comfortable lead in the second half of its SICA West opener, Stagg forward Jon Womack would muscle the Chargers back into the game.
But while Womack helped Stagg get close with 14 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, Sandburg wasn’t to be denied as Cory Cummens scored a game-high 29 points and the hosts hit 15-of-16 free throws in the fourth quarter en route to a 52-39 victory Friday.
“We knew it was going to be a physical game, and we knew Womack was going to be a tremendous inside presence,” Sandburg coach Randy Voels said. “I thought we did well on Womack in the fourth, especially our forward [Jeff Herman].”
And Sandburg (5-3, 1-0) needed every bit of help on the 6-foot-4-inch, 225-pound Womack as he almost single-handedly carried Stagg (5-2, 0-1) by scoring eight points and cutting the Eagles’ biggest lead of nine (26-17) down to three at 33-30 at the end of three.
Sandburg keyed on Womack at the onset of the fourth and ran off six straight points to lead 39-30 with 6:27 to play as Cummens scored two layups. Womack scored six points in the paint and drew the Chargers close again at 42-36 with 2:27 to go. But that’s as close as Stagg got as Sandburg hit eight consecutive free throws in the final two minutes to clinch the win.
— Henry Del Valle
St. Patrick 44, Notre Dame 42
Chris Mroz capped off his 11-point night with all five of his team’s points in the fourth quarter and the game-winning jumper at the buzzer for the East Suburban Catholic win.
“You couldn’t have drawn it up better,” St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey said of Mroz’s game-winning shot. “Road wins in this conference are difficult to come by.”
Host Notre Dame never held the lead but rallied with a 9-1 run to tie the game at 41-41 with 1:21 left. The teams traded free throws before Mroz’s shot.
“We cleared it out and I got the jumper,” Mroz said. “I knew it was in when I let it go.”
Anthony Scala led St. Patrick (4-1, 2-0) with 14 points. Notre Dame (2-3, 0-2), which stayed close while committing 22 turnovers, was led by Kris Guzik’s game-high 15 points.
In other games:
St. Joseph 65, Carmel 58: Teishous Price scored a career-high 36 points as St. Joseph (2-5, 1-1) won in the East Suburban Catholic. Price had 20 points in the first half as St. Joe took a 33-19 lead.
“We haven’t had somebody score that many points in quite a few years,” St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore said. He didn’t play that much last year because he wasn’t too motivated, but tonight, he proved a lot of people wrong.”
Joe Baumann scored 23 for Carmel (4-2, 1-1).
Addison Trail 85, Downers South 71: Billy Brechin and Adam Hansen each scored 18 for Addison Trail (5-1, 2-0) in the West Suburban Gold. Scott Dunda scored 17 for Downers South (3-2, 0-2).
Brother Rice 60, St Ignatius 47: Ryan O’Reilly’s 22 points included six three-pointers for Brother Rice (5-2, 3-0) in the Catholic League. Drew Sassbas scored 15 for St. Ignatius.
Coal City 78, Wilmington 74: Shaking off a 23-point deficit late in the third quarter, Coal City outscored Wilmington 45-18 in the remainder of the game for the Interstate Eight victory. Coal City was led by Francis Loughran, who scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, and Blake Dankovich, who scored 18. Bob Tarman led Wilmington (3-5, 1-2) with a game-high 22 points.
Collins 59, Bogan 47: Jermaine Johnson scored 15 points with 12 rebounds and Marlon Brumfield added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Collins (5-3).
Conant 48, Fremd 47: Mark Jackson hit the second of two free throws to give Conant (5-1, 1-0) the winning margin in the Mid-Suburban West tilt. Paul Moersch led Conant with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Brian Duncan led Fremd (2-4, 0-1) with 13 points.
Crystal Lake South 73, Cary-Grove 71: Will Benson scored 19 points, including five three-pointers, to lift Crystal Lake South (4-4, 3-1) in the Fox Valley.
DeKalb 56, Streamwood 33: DeKalb (6-0, 2-0), off to its best start since the 1983-84 season, used 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists by Erik Jaske to roll in the Upstate Eight. Drew Gronau scored 15 for Streamwood (3-3, 0-2).
Dwight 59, Reed-Custer 53: Brandon Krug’s 19 points and eight blocks made the difference for Dwight (7-0, 3-0) in the Interstate Eight. Reed-Custer is 5-2, 2-1.
Elgin 69, St. Charles East 60: Charlie Tomlin and Chamar Sallis scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Elgin (4-3, 1-1) in the Upstate Eight. Nick Stellato led all scorers with 15 points for St. Charles East (4-2, 1-1).
Fenwick 57, St. Rita 47 (OT): Jason Okzaesk had 12 points, eight of them in overtime as Fenwick held off St. Rita in the Catholic League. Dan Kloak led Fenwick (4-2, 2-1) with 19 points. Andre Senegal led St. Rita (1-6, 0-3) with 16 points.
Gordon Tech 94, Providence 86: Gordon Tech’s Mike Lang scored 13 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter to hold off Providence (2-4, 1-2) for the Catholic League victory. Julian McElroy added 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, Joe Soroko scored 17 and Titus Redmond had 15 off the bench for Gordon Tech (4-2, 2-1). Michael Thompson scored 38 with eight rebounds for Providence.
Hales Franciscan 69, St. Laurence 57: Jawaan Stalling’s 16 points helped Hales (6-1, 2-1) win in the Catholic League. Neil Warcho scored 15 for St. Laurence.
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Holy Cross 57, Marian Catholic 41: Ricky Mojek’s 20 points sparked Holy Cross (5-1, 2-0) in the East Suburban Catholic. Rick Romeli scored 19 for Marian (3-2, 1-1).
Holy Trinity 61, St. Gregory 45: Damien Bracy’s 24 points and 14 rebounds carried Holy Trinity (4-2, 2-0) in the Chicago Prep. Curtis Bowling scored 16 for St. Gregory (1-5, 0-2).
Lane Tech 83, Wells 48: Curtis Collins led the way for Lane (4-2) with 26 points and 17 rebounds. Marcus Williams paced Wells with 26 points.
Lisle 69, Sandwich 44: Joe Cortez scored 21 as Lisle improved to 6-0 and 3-0 in the Interstate Eight.
Loyola 68, Bishop McNamara 52: Mike Viglione’s 17 points led four players in double figures for Loyola (4-2, 2-1) in the Catholic League.
Morgan Park Academy 94, Cristo Rey 57: Eric Kelly had 43 points, 19 rebounds, 13 assists and four blocked shots as Morgan Park Academy (7-4) defeated Cristo Rey. Ifeanyi Aguanunu had 15 points, eight rebounds and 20 assists. The assist total ranks seventh all-time in Illinois.
Morris 60, Plainfield 52: In the Suburban Prairie Red, Cory Yandell scored 22 to guide Morris (3-0, 2-0) past Plainfield (3-2, 1-1).
Naperville Central 74, Glenbard North 59: Mike Wilson scored 30 points to lead Naperville (6-1, 2-0) to the DuPage Valley victory. Curtis Martin’s 16 led Glenbard North (0-6, 0-2).
Naperville North 68, Wheaton North 64: Anderson Brandon’s 14 points led a trio of Huskies in double digits as they held off Wheaton North in a DuPage Valley game. Brian Allured scored 28, hitting four three-pointers and going 10-of-13 from the free-throw line for Wheaton North.
Niles West 72, Waukegan 58: Niles West (4-3, 1-0) won in the Central Suburban South with Sergio Papillon’s 24 points.
Prosser 59, Lindblom 48: Maurice Vaughn had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Prosser (2-5).
Proviso West 77, Oak Park 57: Deandre Richmond’s 21 points led Proviso West (3-3, 1-1) past Oak Park (1-5, 0-2) in the West Suburban Silver.
Quigley 78, St. Benedict 64: Lance Law’s 18 points led Quigley (4-3, 1-1) in the Chicago Prep. Aaron Gibson had 22 for St. Benedict (5-3, 0-2).
Rich Central 61, Rich East 53: Dennis Childs’ 22 points, eight rebounds and six steals led Rich Central (2-4, 1-0) past Rich East (2-5, 0-1) in the SICA South.
Riverside-Brookfield 64, Ridgewood 55: Shatone Powers paced Riverside-Brookfield (3-2) with 20 points in the Suburban Prairie White victory. Jorge Verdin scored 24 points to lead Ridgewood (0-6).
Rolling Meadows 50, Hersey 47: D.J. Brown hit a three-pointer with 4 seconds left to lift Rolling Meadows (3-4, 1-0) over Hersey (4-3, 0-1) in the Mid-Suburban East. Brown scored 23.
Romeoville 55, Reavis 51: Robert Balkcom scored 16 and Eddie Small added 14 points and 16 rebounds for Romeoville (5-0, 1-0) in the SICA North. Mike Shimkus scored 25 for Reavis (5-1, 0-1).
St. Viator 78, Marist 56: Andy Schaeffer’s 19 points sparked St. Viator (7-0, 2-0) in the East Suburban Catholic. Pat Richardson scored 18 for Marist (0-5, 0-2).
Walther Lutheran 52, Nazareth 47: Bo Flowers scored 23 to guide Walther Lutheran (5-1, 3-0) in the Private School League.
Waubonsie Valley 65, Bartlett 61: Waubonsie (5-2, 1-1) won in the Upstate Eight with Elijah Collins’ 22 points and Jeff Porter’s 18. Anthony Maestranzi scored 15 for Bartlett (5-2, 0-2).
Westmont 91, Elmwood Park 64: Pierre Pierce scored 37 for Westmont (5-1, 3-0) in the Suburban Prairie White. Angelo DelGiudice led Elmwood Park (0-6, 0-3) with 27.
Wheaton Academy 70, Chicago Christian 58: Noah Ritchie and Josh Snyder each scored 20 for Wheaton. Rob Voss led all scorers with 21 for Chicago Christian (2-7, 1-2) in the Private School League.
Willowbrook 66, Hinsdale South 53: Tony Battee’s 26 points gave Willowbrook (5-2, 1-1) the West Suburban Gold victory.
Girls basketball
Fremd 65, Conant 48: Maggie Fontana powered No. 6 Fremd (8-1) in the Mid-Suburban West opener with 29 points and 19 rebounds. Fremd’s Katie Straka missed the game because of a dislocated finger and will be out for about two weeks. Katlin Kolko led Conant (4-5) with 14 points.
Maine West 42, Highland Park 39: Maine West was led by Diana Boras’s 18 points as the seventh-ranked Warriors (7-2, 2-0) held off Highland Park in their Central Suburban League tilt.
Palatine 46, Barrington 39: Cookie Ulrich scored 18 points, including 8-of-10 from the free-throw line as Palatine upset No. 17 Barrington in the Mid-Suburban West.
Evanston 54, Glenbrook South 48: Evanston rallied from a seven-point deficit after the first quarter to stun the host Titans in their Central Suburban South conference game. Aja Terrier’s 15 points and Claire Getzoff’s 14 points led Evanston (3-5, 1-1). Pam Findlay scored 13 points to pace Glenbrook South (8-2, 2-1).
Libertyville 57, Antioch 37: Liz Aldridge’s 20 points paced Libertyville (9-2, 2-0) to the North Suburban Lake win. Kelly True added 12 points for the Wildcats, while Meredith Nelson led Antioch (2-7, 1-1) with 12 points.