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Reserves excel as Conant edges Lake Park

C.J. Deshazer made the most of his opportunity Tuesday night in Hoffman Estates.

The junior, who has seen limited time this season for Conant, helped spark the Cougars in the second half as they rallied to beat Lake Park 55-51.

"It is just good to see that the hard work in have in practice pay off," said Deshazer, who led his team with a career-high 12 points including three 3-pointers.

"I get to practice against Jimmy Sotos every day, so it has made me a better player. It feels great to be honest."

Deshazer, along with Brandon Vinson and Palmer Graham, who also have played limited minutes this season, helped spark a third-quarter rally. The trio was all over the floor, forcing Lake Park to turn the ball over on 4 consecutive possessions as the Cougars erased an 8-point deficit.

"We just picked up the pressure," Vinson said. "We went all-guards and pressured up. It was the right defense."

Conant (14-5) could not find the defense the slow down Lake Park early in the game.

The Lancers converted 9 of their first 13 shots, including 5 of 6 from outside the arc, to lead 27-22 at the break. And the only reason it was even that close was because Conant converted 12 of 14 free throws in the first half.

That hot free throw shooting carried on to the second half, even though Lake Park (14-6) had extended its lead to 32-24.

"We had to win the battle of hustle plays against these guys tonight," Conant coach Tom McCormack said. "They had us dead in the water, so we had to play guys we usually don't a lot, like C.J. and Palmer."

The Cougars then attacked the ball defensively. And after turnovers, they took the ball to the basket and were able to draw fouls.

"Being able to pressure the ball and convert it to our offense was the difference," McCormack said. "Our post-up tonight was not throwing the ball into the post, it was driving the post - and we were able to draw some fouls."

The game was tied four times in the fourth quarter before Conant was able to pull away. And the Cougars did it from the free throw line as Sotos, Vinson, Danny Ranallo and Deshazer all converted free throws down the stretch.

Conant, which lost Saturday at Deerfield, needed to bounce back against a Lake Park team that will be in the same sectional this year. The Cougars were able to respond by going 29-for-36 at the foul line. Sotos had 10 points for Conant while Vinson, Ranallo and Michael Downing each chipped in 7 points.

Lake Park, which was playing without Leading scorer Kenny Bogus because of an injury, was led by Dan Hynes, who had 15 points on five 3-pointers. Garret Fant, who was playing his first game since sitting out part of the year with an injury, scored 12 points and Bailey Vance had 8 points.

"We had to extend our lead because we knew that Conant was going to amp it up," Lake Park coach Josh Virostko said. "And I don't think our kids responded to the intensity level that got increased. We let them back in the game and had a lot of fouls, and they shot great from the free throw line."

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