Carmel edges Fremd in double OT

It was back-to-back games for both Carmel Catholic and Fremd on Saturday night, so neither team particularly wanted to play extra periods in nonconference boys basketball on Saturday night.

Fans of basketball surely enjoyed their bonus serving of hoops, however.

Carmel's Shareif Bailey hit a floater in the final seconds of the second overtime to help the Corsairs to a 65-64 victory over Fremd in Mundelein.

"(Fremd) had doubled on C.J. Duff, and I had a one-on-one with my man," said Bailey of the game-winning shot. "I was lucky to make that shot. I just let up a basket and had to take my man to the basket to get the bucket. It was definitely exciting, and I was lucky enough to get the win for my team."

Just a few seconds earlier, Fremd's Xavier Williams (23 points) hit a go-ahead layup to give the Vikings a very brief lead.

Carmel had a 1-point lead at 63-62 but had a key turnover as the Corsairs couldn't get the ball in play with 20 seconds left in the second overtime.

"I really don't know how to explain a win like that one, it was unbelievable," Carmel Catholic coach Zach Ryan said, "We played great, and I thought we had it - but we missed some free throws. Fremd hit a big shot. I knew that it wasn't going to be easy to grind it out.

"We played a good game and hats off to Fremd for coming back. I thought we had it in the fourth quarter."

Ryan appreciates the growth he's seen over the course of the season in his players.

"Our guys, a month or two ago we would've given up in the first overtime, but we didn't," Ryan said. "We had to keep our head up. Fremd was a good team and we had to keep going. We had a great character win."

Carmel (11-12) broke a 27-27 tie starting the third quarter. Duff, who scored all of his team-high 20 points in the second half and the overtime sessions, began the momentum swing with a 4-point play as the Corsairs outscored Fremd 18-8 for a 45-35 lead.

Fremd chipped away and tied the game up in the final seconds of regulation as Williams dropped in a 3 to beat the buzzer for a 53-53 tie.

In the first overtime, Duff scored all of the Corsairs' 6 points, including knocking down three straight free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot with 16.2 seconds left. That tied it at 59-59.

The Vikings missed what would have been a winning laying to force the second overtime.

Kyle Sliwa added 10 points for the Vikings (14-5).

Nate Reid dropped in 13 off the bench for the Corsairs and had three 3s. Carmel finished with 11 three-pointers.

Bailey had 11 points and and Brian Julien chipped in with 10.

"This team has been through so much this season," Ryan said. "We finally got over the hump and beat a really good team."