Leazer, St. Viator surprise Antioch
Fifteen years ago, P.E. teachers and future varsity basketball coaches Jason Raymond and Tim Borries shared an office at Grayslake Middle School.
"We talked a lot of basketball in that office," Raymond said.
They next time the two high school coaches get to talk hoops, it might be too painful for Borries.
On Tuesday, Raymond's St. Viator girls stunned Borries' top-seeded Antioch squad 58-45 in the Class 3A St. Viator sectional semifinals.
As a result, No. 5 St. Viator (18-14) gets the chance to play for a sectional championship on its home court. Maggie Leazer scored a game-high 16 points, going 12 of 15 from the line, and Jenna Breslin came off the bench to post 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Lions, who face No. 2 Johnsburg at 7 p.m. Thursday.
And to think, Antioch (26-6) led by 16 points early in the second quarter.
"Our first quarter was probably one of the worst quarters we've ever played," Lions senior guard Julia Bergstrom said. "But we just kept our heads in the game. We were on our home court and we've been working so hard that we didn't want our season to end like that."
Antioch won a sectional championship last year and, early on, it looked like the Sequoits were on their way to playing in another final.
"We got away from the game plan," said point guard Ashley Reiser, who had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. "We just stopped playing our game."
Amy Reiser's basket with 5:09 left in the fourth had Antioch up 42-37. But the Sequoits then watched St. Viator go on a 12-0 run sparked by Myia Clark, who scored 9 of her 12 points in the fourth after she sat most of the first three quarters with foul trouble. St. Viator scored on back-to-back inbounds plays, the first of which (a layup by Breslin) gave the Lions the lead for good at 43-42 with 3:42 to go.
Breslin, whose big second quarter (7 points, 7 boards) kept the Lions close, finished a pair of shots in the fourth.
"Jenna played awesome," Raymond said of the junior post. "She's been playing really well the last month, month and a half of the season. She works extremely hard and is extremely competitive."
A dominant fourth saw St. Viator outscore Antioch 25-7. The Lions shot 10 of 18 from the floor in the quarter, while limiting the Sequoits to 3-of-18 shooting.
"Maybe we were tired," Amy Reiser said after posting an Antioch-best 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. "Maybe we didn't realize they still had the power, the strength and the mind to come back. It was still a good game. They were just the better team."
Antioch's demise started much earlier the game. With St. Viator's Leazer and Clark each with 2 fouls after one quarter, Alexis Duehr's 3-pointer early in the second had the Sequoits up 21-5. They then started fouling, mustered just 11 points in the quarter and saw their lead shrink to 29-19 by halftime.
"We knew that if we tightened the screws defensively, our shots would start falling," said Raymond, whose Lions shot 18 percent in the first half. "At the half, we talked about not giving up so many back-doors and to keep playing defense."
Nine of St. Viator's 14 second-quarter points came at the stripe.
"We were the aggressors (early)," Borries said. "We didn't take advantage of the situation. In the second quarter we fouled them too much. The problem with fouling is that it's a momentum killer because we're stopping the game and they're scoring."
Halftime didn't interrupt St. Viator's momentum. Despite shooting just 3 of 16 from the floor in the third, the Lions went 8 of 9 from the line and trimmed their deficit to 38-33, holding Antioch to 3 of 11 shooting.
"That third quarter was a huge game-changer," Bergstrom said. "We came out fired up."
"Jason came out with a good plan," Borries said. "He shut down the lane in the second half. We could never get into the flow of things."
Antioch graduates starters Duehr (8 points), Maddy Murillo (6 points, 11 rebounds) and Kelly Johnson, who missed the last month with a back injury.
"It was painful," Borries said of the loss. "A lot of the girls took it hard."