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Lake Zurich tops Lake Park for elusive regional triumph

Neither free throws nor regional championships come easy, even if Lake Zurich guard Nick Penny makes the former seem simple.

Take it from coach Billy Pitcher in regards to the latter. In 16 seasons - including three as a varsity player at Normal Community, seven as an assistant coach and six as head coach at Lake Zurich - he had never experienced victory in a regional final. Which explained his smile Friday night after his third-seeded Bears outlasted No. 6 Lake Park 54-45 to win the Class 4A McHenry regional.

"I don't know if it was a monkey or a gorilla on my back," joked Pitcher, who lost in a regional final twice as a player. His Bears were ousted in the regional final in each of the last two years. Lake Zurich hadn't won a regional title since 2005.

"It's tough," Pitcher added. "When you get to this level, teams are really good."

Lake Park was no exception.

Penny, who scored a game-high 18 points, went 13 of 13 from the foul line, hiking his school-record total for made throws to 188. And free throws were a major factor for Lake Zurich against Lake Park (17-11), which welcomed the return of leading scorer Kenny Bogus. The Bears shot 35 free throws, making 26 (74 percent). The Lancers were 8 of 15 from the stripe.

"We trust everyone on the team to shoot free throws," Penny said after a game in which his teammates Nick Meyer, Ryan Kutsor, Andrew Gilbertson, Michael Bens and Tim Spears also knocked down foul shots. "When we go to the line, in our heads, we're knocking it down. We practice it all the time. It's just repetition."

Kutsor and Meyer (7 rebounds) added 15 and 11 points, respectively, for Lake Zurich (23-9), which advances to the Fremd sectional and will play the host Vikings at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

"Lake Zurich played well," Lake Park coach Josh Virostko said. "They deserved it. They had a nice game."

Bailey Vance led the Lancers with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals. Bogus had not played since fracturing his left ankle in a win over Waubonsie Valley on Jan. 26.

"It was fine," Bogus said. "I really had no pain in it."

He was feeling a different kind of pain after fouling out late in the game. The 6-foot-5 senior guard finished with 9 points coming off the bench. Virostko certainly wasn't expecting Bogus to be the Lancers' savior.

"It was going to be rough," Virostko said. "He obviously didn't have his legs. He got winded. But I appreciate that he gave the effort, and I think that deserves a lot of credit. If basketball were that easy, everybody would be able to take six weeks off and come back. It's just hard."

Lake Zurich took no chances, putting the 6-4 Meyer on Bogus.

"We switched Meyer onto him because he's our best defender," Penny said. "I thought that really helped. (Bogus) is tough to guard, but Meyer took the challenge like he always does."

A pair of free throws by Justin Scafidi had Lake Park within 44-42 with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter. But Lake Zurich closed the game with a 10-3 run, going 10 of 14 from the line in the final 1:24.

"They're a very good team," Bogus said. "Very disciplined."

Pitcher couldn't have been more relieved afterward.

"Boy, are they physical," he said of the Lancers. "They play great defense, they drive. We were wondering if they were going to hold (Bogus) out. He's a hard matchup."

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