This was the weekend St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey had circled on his calendar from the very beginning of the season.
He knew that facing a weekend series against St. Joseph and St. Laurence either meant a significant roadblock to their season or a reason for some serious celebration.
Let the celebration begin.
The Shamrocks built as much as an 11-point first-half lead against the No. 13 Vikings, survived a disastrous third quarter and then pulled off an improbable 60-59 victory Saturday night in Burbank in a frantic scenario in the game’s final 6.6 seconds.
Peter Stankiewicz’s 16-foot baseline jumper with 13 seconds remaining gave St. Laurence (13-1) a 59-57 lead–only their third lead of the game–and appeared to cap a strong Vikings’ second-half comeback. The Shamrocks called a timeout and attempted to inbound the ball from halfcourt with seconds to play.
St. Patrick’s Marc Hartman (14 points) inbounded to Matt Marino, who tripped over a St. Laurence player and lost control of the ball. Marino stretched for the loose ball and batted it along the floor to 6-foot-7 junior Dan Bolger along the right baseline behind the three-point arc. Bolger fired a low line-drive into the basket with :0.6 remaining that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
St. Laurence had one final chance but could not get off a good shot.
“I wasn’t even sure where I was standing,” Bolger said. “I just knew it had to go up fast.”
The win, coupled with a 60-49 pounding of St. Joseph Friday night, gives the Shamrocks (10-2) plenty to think about in the coming months.
“We said this early in the season, that if we are ever going to have a chance of getting Downstate, we will have weekends like this,” St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey said. “We try to schedule a weekend like this at least once a year.”
St. Patrick jumped out to a 40-29 halftime lead, thanks mostly to shooting nearly 63 percent from the floor. The Shamrocks followed by missing their first 10 shots of the third as St. Laurence went on a 10-0 run to close to within 40-39 with three minutes left in the third.
The Vikings’ Stankiewicz (11 points) buried a 10-footer with 1:21 left to tie it at 57-57 and set the game up for the wild finish. Mike Steigerwald led St. Laurence with 13 points.
Phil English.
Hoffman Estates 59, Loyola 46
While the Hoffman Estates fans leaving Saturday’s non-conference matchup with Loyola needed a brush to get the snow off their cars, its possible Hawks junior guard Bryan Mead could have simply used his shooting hand to melt the white stuff away.
Fresh off a 38-point performance in the championship game of the Elgin Christmas Tournament, Mead poured in 29 points–including 15 in the decisive third quarter–as No. 17 Hoffman Estates improved to 11-2 with a 59-46 victory over Loyola.
“Our offense is doing a lot of things to get me open shots,” said Mead, who was 11-of-21 from the floor, including 5-of-10 from beyond the three-point arc. “They’re setting a lot of screens, moving the ball really well, and that’s helping me get open.”
And when Mead was covered, the Hawks displayed a knack for finding the right man. Hoffman Estates collected 18 assists on the night and continually found holes in the Loyola defense, leading to easy baskets.
Loyola (8-4) overcame a slow start and trailed just 26-22 at the intermission, but the Hawks put the game away early in the third quarter. Point guard Jonny Reibel (12 points) drained a three-pointer on Hoffman Estates’ first possession to spark an 11-0 Hawks run in the first two minutes of the second half.
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The Ramblers answered with six straight points from Colin Falls (10 points) and a transition basket from Mike Brennan to cut the lead to 37-30 with 4 minutes left in the period, but that’s when Mead took over.
His three-pointer preceded a trey from Reibel, and Scott Hennig drained two free throws before Mead scored on an offensive rebound to cap a 10-0 run. After a Loyola basket, Mead nailed another three-pointer, then scored on a fast break to give Hoffman Estates a 52-32 lead with 1:01 left in the third.
After Falls scored for the Ramblers, Mead’s third three-pointer of the period–this one with eight ticks remaining–made it 55-34 and put the final nail in Loyola’s coffin.
“We knew we had to make a run early in the second half and increase our lead,” Mead said. “We wanted to put the pressure on them and force them to make some bad decisions.”
Jeff Ponczak.
Proviso East 77, Willowbrook 46: Shannon Brown had 20 points and five assists and Phillip Perry chipped in with 16 points as the No. 6 Pirates (10-1, 2-0) rolled in the West Suburban Gold.
Neuqua Valley 83, Plainfield 82: The No. 10 Wildcats (13-1) held on for the non-conference win behind Kyle Carrabine, who scored a career-high 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting. Ryan Sharp led Plainfield (11-3) with 22 points and hit his fourth three-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin. Greg Bayer also scored 22 points for the Wildcats (11-3) in the loss.
Libertyville 60, Downers Grove North 49: Ben Engstrom had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Ryan Schwerman put in 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the No. 16 Wildcats (10-3). Stephan Bolt led Downers North (7-8) with 15 points.
East Aurora Hoops Night: Matt Jaquez netted 18 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting as East Aurora (10-2) ran past LaSalle-Peru 80-60. . . . Emil Martchinskas’ layup with a minute left lifted Westmont past Aurora Christian 60-57. Duane Rogers’ 18 points led Westmont (4-11), while Martchinskas had 10..
Fenwick 67, St. Francis 63: Vince Humphrey scored eight of his game-high 35 points in a closing 8-2 run as the Friars (7-4) rallied. Humphrey had two field goals and four free throws in the final two minutes to bring Fenwick back from a 61-59 deficit. Bob Valker had 20 points to lead St. Francis (6-6), which led 17-8 after one quarter.
Glenbard West 61, Oak Park 49: Ryan Anetsberger and Lafeyette Bell scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, for Glenbard West (10-2, 2-1) in the West Suburban Silver. Chris Newell scored 11 of his 20 points in the final quarter for Oak Park (10-7, 1-2).
Notre Dame 47, St. Viator 32: Ibraham Badmus scored 15 points to lead the Dons (10-3, 5-0) in the East Suburban Catholic. Notre Dame broke the game open with a 9-0 third-quarter run.
St. Francis de Sales 63, Momence 54: Robert Quinones scored 22 points to lead the Pioneers (9-5).
Girls basketball
Holiday Cage Classic: At Cleveland State, top-ranked Fenwick (13-1) used Erin Lawless’ 27 points and 11 rebounds to roll past Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph 83-52. Nicole Rivera and Kristin Heidloff chipped in with 15 and 12 points, respectively, for the winners.
Neuqua Valley 77, St. Charles East 34: The No. 3 Wildcats (14-1, 5-0) bolted out to a 46-10 halftime lead in the Upstate Eight as Brittanie Taylor-James finished with 22 points.
Trinity 82, Maria 36: The No. 5 Blazers (15-3, 4-0) trounced Maria (3-15, 0-4) in the GCAC Red behind Caprice Smith’s 23 points.
Loyola 62, St. Ignatius 46: Eileen Weissmann collected 17 points and 11 rebounds for the No. 13 Ramblers (16-2, 4-1) in the GCAC Red. Maggie Duggan added 13 points for Loyola, which opened the game on an 8-0 run and led 17-4 after one quarter and 32-14 at the half. St. Ignatius (7-10, 2-3) was led by Kerry Dillon’s 12 points.
Carmel 51, Queen of Peace 50 (2OT): Becky Smith sank a free throw with one second left in the second extra session to give Carmel the edge. Smith scored five of her eight points in the overtime periods while Jenny Eckhart led the Corsairs (12-5) with 18 points. Latia Howell’s 14 points paced Queen of Peace (6-9).
Chicago Public Schools tournament: Lanikia Lawrence scored 19 points and dished out 12 assists and Rodtrice Tucker had 17 points and 15 rebounds as Crane (13-3) defeated Harlan 59-44 for the title. Chana Bates had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Harlan (15-2).
Sweet 16 tournament: Ashley Sandstead had 14 points to go with Jennifer Guth’s 13 as Buffalo Grove (11-5) rolled past Washington 71-41.