Wells, Grant edge Vernon Hills
Shortly before the start of Friday night’s Grant-Vernon Hills boys basketball game, VH senior guard M.J. Crowley had to run up and down the home bleachers.
But it wasn’t a punishment.
It was a quick trip, during introductions, to deliver a small, souvenir basketball to his grandmother, Maureen Mitchell.
“She was surprised when I got up there,” Crowley said after the Cougars’ senior night game.
Somebody else, though, deserved the game ball afterward.
And he wore a visiting uniform in the North Suburban Conference Prairie division clash.
Grant senior Sean Wells (10 points), on a broken play as time expired in the fourth quarter, nailed a 15-foot jumper to clinch a thrilling 54-52 Bulldogs victory.
The play’s first option was senior forward Ilya Kadushin, who received an entry pass with about three ticks left. Surrounded, he whipped a pass to Wells, camped near a baseline.
“(VH 6-foot-4 forward Jarrett Wood) came out to guard me,” the 6-0 Wells recalled. “He was right on me. I had to fade away to get the shot off.”
The shot was part fastball, part line drive.
“It went in,” a relieved Bulldogs coach Wayne Bosworth said, as he marched toward his team’s locker room.
Wells’ first name is pronounced “Seen,” not “Shawn.”
Grant followers, wouldn’t you know, had seen a similar clutch shot from Wells last month. He beat a buzzer to force overtime in a win over Stevenson.
“We had him guarded well; the kid drilled a great shot,” said VH coach Matt McCarty, whose Cougars (12-10, 5-5) had edged Grant 53-52 on Jan. 6. “Neither team had quit in it tonight.
“My assistant (Colin Mason) just said to me that if we were to play them again (Saturday), at 8 a.m., it would be the same deal, another close game.”
Friday night’s meeting was 45-44 close (Grant up) after three quarters. Kadushin (15 points, 11 rebounds) had netted 8 points in the frame, and so did VH junior guard Stephen Curry (game-high 16 points, 8 boards).
Curry’s consecutive treys put his club up 44-39 with 2:06 left.
Grant senior guard Allen Lewis (9 points) struck for the Bulldogs’ last 4 points of the quarter and then opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer.
Grant 48, VH 44, just like that.
“Another game of swings … so many swings,” McCarthy noted.
VH enjoyed its last lead, 51-50, with 5:01 left, after a 3-ball by VH senior guard Darren Hoveydai (6 points).
Grant (16-7, 6-4) answered, 16 seconds later, with a Kadushin bucket.
Hoveydai split a pair of free throws, knotting it at 52-52 at 1:28.
Grant then held the ball – and stood around, as time melted; Cougars chose not to guard the ball.
Bosworth called for a timeout with 13.5 seconds remaining.
“Even though it wasn’t the play we wanted,” Bosworth said of Wells’ decider, “I felt good when Sean took that shot. He’s a really good shooter.”
“Our guys,” he added, “played with such heart tonight, with so much desire. We’ve been in a lot of games like this all season.”
Bulldogs senior forward Jared Helmich finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds.
VH got a 10-point, 7-board night from Wood; junior teammate Trenton Fulton came down with 8 rebounds; and Crowley scored 7 points after his special pre-tip delivery.