Bogus drops free throw, Lake Park drops Neuqua Valley
Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton had told his players to expect a one-possession game.
Lake Park's 44-43 DuPage Valley Conference victory Friday was all that.
Tied 43-43 with 55.5 seconds to play, after a timeout by Lake Park coach Josh Virostko the Neuqua defense allowed nothing for 55 seconds. On Kenny Bogus' last-ditch 3-point try the Wildcats were called for a foul with 0.5 seconds remaining.
"I just pump-fake and (the Neuqua defender) just went up. Thank God my teammates passed me the ball. It's all because of them," said Bogus, who led all scorers with 20 points, plus 5 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals and a long assist to Mitch Jarosinski, who tied the score with 1:17 left.
"It was an intense moment and thank God I actually hit my free throw," said Bogus, a 6-foot-5 guard.
He made the first free throw, missed the second. After a timeout Bogus intentionally missed the third and Neuqua's Jacob Cushing grabbed the rebound. Quickly the Wildcats called time. Though the clock wound to zeros, officials put 0.3 seconds back up.
From his own baseline Neuqua's Ryan Phillips threw a long inbounds pass that Cushing attempted to tip. He couldn't get much on it and Lake Park (12-4, 6-1) escaped south Naperville with its share of the DVC lead.
"I think we played really hard and if we had cut down our (19) turnovers and just executed a little better on offense I think we would have came out with the win," said the 6-7 Cushing, who scored 17 points to lead the Wildcats. Phillips had 10.
Cushing called this the Wildcats' best defensive game as Neuqua (6-13, 2-5) forced the Lancers into 18-of-47 shooting. Virostko noted it was his club's toughest shooting night this season.
"You'll have some nights in conference play you've just got to kind of hang around and hope we find a way at the end, and that's what we did tonight," the coach said.
Trailing 33-31 after three quarters, Neuqua rallied to go up 39-33, and 41-38.
Lake Park guard Dan Hynes tied the score on a 3-pointer, but Neuqua's Andrew Clark countered inside for a 43-41 Neuqua lead with 1:50 left. Jarosinski converted Bogus' long assist and Neuqua turned the ball over to set up Lake Park's lengthy final possession.
"We had the capability to play with a team like Lake Park, they're the top team in the conference," said Meredith, a junior guard who scored 7 points with 7 rebounds and took 5 offensive charges.
"We have that talent and that skill level but we just have to put it together for 32 minutes," he said.