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St. Charles East outlasts Metea Valley in OT

The game may have been for third place but there was a definitive championship feel to St. Charles East's 86-82 boys basketball overtime victory over Metea Valley Saturday night in St. Charles.

All-tournament selections Evan DiLeonardi and James McQuillan combined for 50 points, 9 of them coming in the 4-minute extra session, as the Saints (3-1) earned the third-place trophy in the 57th annual Ron Johnson Thanksgiving Tournament.

Neither team led by more than 7 points in a game that featured 28 lead changes and 8 ties - the last coming at 80-80 after Metea Valley (2-2) sophomore all-tournament selection Malik Hall (13 points) powered a two-handed slam dunk off an offensive rebound with 1:07 remaining in overtime.

St. Charles East grabbed the lead for good on its next possession as McQuillan (20 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) fired a pinpoint pass to senior forward Zach Hondlik (9 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists) for a layup to make it 82-80 with 50 seconds left.

"James played great tonight," said Saints' coach Patrick Woods. "I thought he made a heck of a pass toward the end of the game to Hondlik."

McQuillan and DiLeonardi each connected on a pair of free throws over the final 22 seconds to nail down the victory for the Saints.

"It was a fun game," said DiLeonardi, who scored 16 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime period. "With two of our top six guys out, someone had to take over. The scoring had to come from somewhere."

"He's a fierce competitor," Woods said of DiLeonardi.

Already without the services of 6-5 sophomore Justin Hardy (concussion protocol), the Saints lost junior guard Zach Mitchell to an undisclosed injury after taking a charge just 19 seconds into the contest.

"I thought we had some younger kids step up," said Woods. "Alec Champine did a great job as a sophomore coming into a game like that, and (sophomore) Zach Robinson gave us eight quick points in that second quarter."

J.T. Ford added 17 points for the Saints.

"What I'm proud of was that we didn't play well but still found a way to win," said Woods. "I'd have to look but I don't think I've ever won a game with 23 turnovers."

Tristan Schlosser led Metea Valley with 27 points while Harrison Kranz added 18.

Dei'Ron Delarosa's layup with 15 seconds left in regulation helped force overtime.

"It was a great basketball game," said Mustangs coach Bob Vozza. "It just came down to making plays at the end and they made a couple more in overtime than we did."

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