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Potnick cooks up 45-point effort as Buffalo Grove hangs on

Luke Potnick was in such a zone Friday that he couldn't even miss when he was trying to.

His made free throw that banged off the glass and rattled in with 2.1 seconds remaining gave him a share of the Buffalo Grove boys basketball single-game scoring record.

His 45-point explosion equaled Brian Coderre's effort against Springfield during the 1983-84 season, and his 9 3-pointers was 1 more than Alex Fritz's record set last season against Lindblom.

All of that happened as the Bison (5-6, 2-2) were finishing a 70-65 Mid-Suburban East victory over Hersey, a game that they seemingly had in hand and then had to win all over again in the final 21 seconds.

“Last game, coach sat me because my head wasn't there,” said Potnick of his performance. “We need my head to be there for us to be successful.

“I wanted to make them proud and to have a good game,” Potnick said. “We needed a win.”

“It was just a great performance,” said BG coach Ryan O'Connor. “His shots weren't easy.

“I was happy to see him respond and play with the energy he did tonight,” O'Connor said. “His teammates have confidence in him.”

Hersey, led by the triple threat of Connor Watters (21 points), Quinn Orlandi (19) and Alex Sutrinaitis (17), cut into a 56-40 deficit early in the fourth quarter with a 15-4 run that left the Huskies (3-7, 1-3) trailing 60-55.

They tied the game at 65 on a 3-pointer by Watters with 46 seconds remaining, and then Potnick, who made 14 of 23 from the field (9 of 14 from behind the arc), took over. He made a 3 with 21.6 seconds remaining, and after a late Hersey turnover prevented a game-tying shot, Potnick went to the line.

With only the school record on the line after making the first, he unsuccessfully tried to follow O'Connor's instructions to miss it and grabbed a share of the record.

“We had a winning formula at the end of the third quarter and through the fourth,” Hersey coach Steve Messer said. “I'm proud of them.”

BG's offense wasn't entirely Potnick's one-man show. Andrew Apel scored 10 points, and both Steve Soifer and Kevin Newman scored 6.

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