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Lisle outlasts IC Catholic Prep in third OT

Trevor Stitt missed his first six free throws on Tuesday night, with multiple foul shots going in and out.

But when it counted most, the Lisle junior guard stepped up and swished a pair.

Going to the free-throw line with 0.3 seconds left in the third overtime after being fouled on a drive, Stitt's two makes gave the Lions an 82-80 victory over IC Catholic Prep in Elmhurst. Stitt played nearly every minute of the thriller with starting point guard Derrick Redmond sidelined with the flu.

"I was just thinking about all the time in the gym, shooting free throws," said Stitt, after the Knights tried to ice him with a timeout. "I was trying to give myself confidence and my teammates had faith in me the whole time. (Once the first one went in) I had a lot of relief. It made the second one a lot easier."

The visitors appeared to have the game sewn up in regulation, holding a 60-51 advantage with less than two minutes remaining. But IC hit a trio of 3s, two by Austin Reed and one by Matt Sutton, to send the game into overtime.

Two free throws by Lisle's Adalberto Gutierrez with 34.3 seconds remaining in the first extra session knotted the score up again at 65. In the second OT Ryan Gillen made a runner with 13 seconds on the clock to give the Lions a 73-72 advantage. But Will Lyles split a pair of free-throw attempts with less than two seconds on the clock to extend the game.

"We have had trouble closing (games) out," Lisle coach Mark LaScala said. "We had a couple of opportunities in regulation, but they hit some big 3s. Both teams showed great resolve. Give them all the credit in the world for coming back like that."

Mark McGrath led all scorers with 32 points, and the junior added 10 rebounds and 3 steals for the Lions (9-8). Ryan Gillen totaled 23 points, 14 of which came after halftime. Gutierrez also reached double figures with 15 points.

IC Catholic (9-7), which lost its second straight overtime contest, received 22 points from Austin Reed to go along with 10 rebounds and 4 steals. Jordan Rowell added 15 points and 14 rebounds in his first action of the season and Angel Ramirez and Sutton chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

"We had our chances," Knights coach T.J. Tyrrell said. "We took advantage of some of them but didn't on some others. But our intensity wasn't there at the beginning and that has been up and down all year."

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