Matt Conrad scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a decisive three-pointer with two seconds left, to lead Benet Academy to a 62-60 upset of Wheaton St. Francis Friday night in Lisle.
St. Francis led 60-56 when Conrad hit a jumper to bring Benet within two with 26 seconds left. St. Francis twice had a chance to open up a bigger lead, but Scott England missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities in the next 15 seconds.
After the second miss, Benet`s Neil Fitzgerald got the rebound and the Redwings, with no timeouts remaining, worked it downcourt to Conrad. He hit the three-pointer from the top of the key to give Benet its first lead of the night. St. Francis was called for a foul on the subsequent inbounds play and Benet`s Dennis Krob`s free throw made it 62-60.
”It was the most fantastic thing I`ve done all year,” said Conrad, who finished with 21 points. ”The shot felt great the minute it left my hands.” The loss prevented first-place St. Francis (17-2, 10-1) from clinching the West Suburban Catholic Conference crown. Benet (12-7, 8-3) is in second place.
”There was no way we wanted St. Francis to clinch the title on our home floor,” said Benet coach Tom Allen, whose team lost at St. Francis 72-47 in its league opener. ”That was the main thing I stressed to the kids. I also wanted these kids to show something tonight-that we are a good basketball team. I think we did that.”
David Green led St. Francis with 21 points. Mario McIntosh added 10 points for Benet.
East Aurora 69, Elgin 62-Thomas Wyatt exploded for 26 points as No. 4 East Aurora (17-2, 9-1) rolled in the Upstate Eight. Jesse Henderson scored 24 for Elgin (11-9, 7-3).
Proviso West 68, Downers Grove North 44-No. 17 Proviso (16-5, 8-1) won handily as Dave Broz got 17 points and 9 rebounds and Cliff Williams (7 of 11 from the field) and Charles Owens added 16 each. The Panthers were playing without starting guard Lu Parker, who suffered a dislocated shoulder in practice Thursday. He`ll be examined by a doctor on Monday; he may be out three to five weeks. Scott Stein had 18 points (9 of 13 from the field) for Downers North (4-14, 1-7).
Proviso East 91, Willowbrook 38-Balanced scoring by Donnie Boyce (15 points), Derrick Malone (14), Sherrel Ford (13) and Mario Brown and Donnale Bush (12 apiece) paced Proviso East (16-5, 7-1) in the West Suburban Gold.
Glenbard West 71, Hinsdale South 62-Sven Bonde had 30 points and 10 rebounds, Kevin Moore added 21 points and Bert Brandt contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds as Glenbard West (9-10) prevailed in a West Suburban crossover. Dave Roselund had 23 points for Hinsdale South (12-8).
Lyons 60, York 45-Tom Skahill had 19 points and Kenny Williams 17 as Lyons (8-12, 3-5) won in the West Suburban Silver. York is 14-7, 5-4.
St. Edward 70, Marmion Military 68 (OT)-In the West Suburban Catholic, Eric Sauceda scored 30 for St. Edward (13-6, 6-5). Steve Piscoran had 17 points for Marmion (8-11, 4-7).
Montini 79, Driscoll 64-Nick Zamar (22 points) led four players in double figures for Montini (11-10, 6-5 in the West Suburban Catholic). Driscoll is 4-18, 1-10.
St. Rita 59, Fenwick 57-Mike Tencza sank a free throw with 2:59 left to forge a 57-57 deadlock and sank another free throw with :59 left to give St. Rita a 58-57 lead and the Mustangs (13-8, 5-4) held on for the Catholic League victory. Brian Hamilton scored 14 and Jonathan Taylor 13 for St. Rita. Mike Rezek scored 27 for No. 18 Fenwick (15-4, 7-2).
Streamwood 68, Lake Park 59-Dexter Ball scored 16 points to establish a school career scoring record with 923 points and Simeon Henderson added 24 points as Streamwood (4-17, 1-9) prevailed in the Upstate Eight. Dave Assmon had 18 points for Lake Park (1-19, 1-9).
Nazareth Academy 58, Aurora Central 49-Nazareth Academy (13-6, 8-4)
breezed in the Private League behind Sean Pearson (22 points).
Downers Grove South 61, Leyden 58-Brian Buscher had 23 points, Duane Anderson 14 and Tim McGladdery 12 as Downers Grove South (8-11, 3-5) prevailed in the West Suburban Gold. Pat Rochford had 26 for Leyden (9-11, 5-4).
Waubonsie Valley 87, Morris 82-Host Waubonsie (18-1, 10-0) survived a Little Seven upset bid by Morris (13-8, 5-5) as Jose Harris scored 28 points. Jeff Johnson scored 27 for Morris.
Plainfield 66, Oswego 65 (OT)-Kirk Lange had 20 points as Plainfield
(4-13, 3-7) rolled in the Little Seven.
Batavia 79, Sycamore 50-Batavia (13-6, 9-1) stayed a game back of Waubonsie in the Little Seven behind Cory Williams (22 points) and Neil Jenkins (16 points).
Kaneland 54, Geneva 39-Kaneland (14-7, 7-3) rolled in the Little Seven behind Tom Anderson`s 11 points and 10 each by Jeff Johnson, Jeff Nearhing and Rich Vernon.
Wheaton Central 57, Naperville Central 50-Wheaton (11-7, 8-1) held on to first place in the Du Page Valley behind Jeff Thorne`s 19 points. Todd Meador had 15 for Naperville (7-12, 4-5).
Glenbard East 64, Glenbard North 62-Wade Hardtke had 24 points for East
(8-8, 4-5 in the Du Page Valley). Erin Dwyer scored 22 for North (3-14, 1-8).
Westmont 59, Elmwood Park 51-Westmont (4-16, 3-5) topped Elmwood Park
(7-14, 3-5) in the Northeast Conference as Jon Schied scored 19 points.
Fenton 64, Libertyville 63-Andre Miller hit the winning shot with 7 seconds left for Fenton (14-9, 8-5) in the North Suburban. Nick Marshall scored 19 to lead Fenton; Todd Adams scored 21 for Libertyville (11-8, 6-6).
Hinckley-Big Rock 62, Leland 50-Zach Smith scored 14 points for Hinckley- Big Rock (13-6, 7-0) in the Little 10.
CITY
De La Salle 53, de Sales 40-Charles Brakes scored 22 points and pulled down 7 rebounds and Brooks Taylor added 20 points, 6 rebounds and 9 steals to pace No. 3 De La Salle (17-1, 8-0) in the Catholic League. Jason Harris had 17 points and 10 rebounds for St. Francis de Sales (9-10, 5-4).
Leo 71, Brother Rice 42-James Thomas poured in 26 points as Leo (16-4, 7-1) rolled in the Catholic League. Mike Murphy had 11 points for Brother Rice (8-12, 4-5).
St. Joseph 60, St. Patrick 46-William Gates scored 23 points and Deryl Cunningham added 20 as No. 7 St. Joseph (16-2, 10-0) used a 10-2 second-quarter run and a stout third-quarter defense to roll in the East Suburban Catholic. Terry Cameron had 23 points for St. Patrick (10-10, 4-6).
Luther North 55, Wheaton Christian 51-McCarry Hunter had 16 points to lead Luther (9-11, 3-9 in the Private School League). Andy Schmidt had 15 for Wheaton (0-18, 0-10).
NORTH
Gordon Tech 80, Loyola Academy 58-No. 8 Gordon Tech (17-2, 8-1), led by Tom Kleinschmidt (21 points, 5 rebounds), built a 38-27 halftime lead and coasted in the Catholic League. Adam Schabes had 14 points for Loyola (1-17, 0-9).
Evanston 88, Glenbrook North 72-No. 5 Evanston 17-2, 7-0) rolled to a 43-28 halftime lead and coasted in the Central Suburban South behind Juvon McGarry (30 points) and Tyrone Bell (28). Jim Chinetti had 16 points for Glenbrook North (6-13, 0-7).
Glenbrook South 50, Maine East 46-Brian Moe had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Mike Falk added 10 points and 6 assists for Glenbrook South (10-10, 3-4)
in the Central Suburban League South. Dimitrios Kouzoukos had 19 points for Maine East (6-13, 2-5).
SOUTH
Thornton 86, Bloom 78-Louis Ely (23 points) and Tracy Webster (16)
combined for 29 points in the fourth quarter to boost No. 10 Thornton (17-3, 6-2) over Bloom 86-78 in the SICA East showdown.
Bloom (13-7, 4-4), which led 40-37 at the half and 62-57 after three periods, ran out of gas and was outscored 29-16 in the final eight minutes.
Maurice Stovall scored 19 points and Dion James 16 for Thornton. Bloom`s Brandon Cole led all scorers with 27 points, including four three-pointers. Dana Parker added 16 and Jeff Daniel and Derrick Stewart had 15 points each.
Richards 66, Argo 39-Richards (14-5, 7-1) got 21 points from Cleveland Anderson to maintain its league lead in the SICA West.
St. Laurence 70, St. Ignatius 56-Brent Bowers scored 29 points, Steve Oldendorf 17 and Tim Hughes 13 to lift host St. Laurence (10-11, 3-6) in the Catholic League. Pete Wall managed 22 points for St. Ignatius (8-12, 1-8).
