Lisle wins third straight
Lisle sophomores Mark McGrath, Trevor Stitt and Grant Haen are quickly adjusting to life on the varsity boys basketball scene.
"We've always played together growing up," McGrath said. "This is just like the next step, just like the back yard."
On Tuesday they and the young Lions enjoyed their biggest moment so far this season - a 53-51 nonconference victory over IC College Prep in front of a boisterous home crowd.
Lisle (5-10) trailed by 11 points midway through the third quarter but led for good after Stitt's open 3-pointer with 6:22 left for a 43-42 lead. The Lions pulled ahead by as much as 52-45 before hanging on at the end.
"It's huge. They're one of the best teams we play all year and it's nice to get a win against them," McGrath said. "We always knew that we could do it as long as we played to our potential. (That fourth quarter) was very, very exciting. That's why we play basketball."
Lisle had three players in double figures with McGrath getting 17 points and 8 rebounds. Junior Ryan Gillen scored 12 points and classmate Derrick Redmond added 10 points and 4 steals. ICCP (8-7) was led by junior Rhashaun Epting with 18 points and sophomore Austin Reed, who had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals.
After a 1-9 start the Lions have won three in a row and four out of their last five. This was the first victory over ICCP for their current players on any level. Out of the eight players used Tuesday, Charlie Jansen was the lone senior.
"This is a big win because they're in our regional and in terms of a team that's very athletic and has some bigger kids," Lisle coach Mark LaScala said. "I think our kids sensed that it was an upset. We've worked hard all year and haven't always got the reward. I think there was a sense of accomplishment."
The Knights nearly avoided their fourth straight loss. Reed made a steal and pass to Troy Burrows for a 3-pointer and fed Will Lyles for an inside bucket to cut the deficit to 52-50.
After Gillen made one of two free throws with 11.2 seconds left, the Lions fouled the 6-foot-5 Epting in the double bonus with 2.8 seconds rather than allow a potential game-tying 3. Epting made the first free throw and then missed the second with a high-arc attempt, but Redmond dug out the rebound.
"I've been burned by not fouling where people have sent it to overtime (with 3s). I knew he'd be able to get it off at his size," LaScala said.
The Knights led 27-22 at halftime and used an 8-0 run to pull ahead 37-26. Hampered lately by turnovers, ICCP committed 9 in the final 10 minutes.
"(Lisle) played harder. We didn't have good intensity and were complacent. It didn't seem like our kids were very enthusiastic or motivated at all," ICCP coach T.J. Tyrrell said.
The Lions' comeback initially was sparked by their first 3s in the game from Nick Massura and McGrath. Near the end of the third quarter, the team's energy heightened with three consecutive steals in less than a minute despite not scoring any points.
"That one series of events was kind of a microcosm of where we didn't get discouraged," LaScala said. "I've never seen kids so excited about missing eight shots in a row. We just kept after it."
After being scoreless the first three quarters, Stitt had seven points on three baskets in the fourth quarter and assisted two of the other four baskets.
"For a sophomore, he showed a lot of poise in a high-energy, pressure situation," LaScala said.