Camp, York top Naperville North
With the Naperville North faithful still roaring after a big shot, York's Ryan Camp answered with an equally big shot, and he and his teammates were not done coming up big.
The third-seeded Huskies, who trailed by 9 points in the third quarter of Friday's Class 4A regional championship boys basketball game at Lyons Township, rallied to draw even at 37-37 on a 3-pointer by Jelani McClain with less than 2½ minutes to play. But the Dukes moved up the court quickly and Camp nailed a 3-pointer of his own from the right wing with 2:18 to left.
When fellow senior guard John Morrissey came away with a tip steal and was fouled, his two free throws gave York a 42-37 lead and before long the Dukes had a 47-40 victory and the program's fourth straight regional crown.
"We just pushed it down immediately. It was open and my teammates got me the ball," said Camp, who scored all 8 of his points in the second half as the Dukes advanced to next week's East Aurora sectional. "It felt great. That was just great. You got to stop their momentum whenever they get it going. And we did that."
For the Huskies the loss ended a great campaign that saw the team claim the DuPage Valley Conference title and amass the most wins ever under coach Jeff Powers. With McClain and EJ Vaughn the only seniors to play Friday, Naperville North will be in line for another big season in 2016-2017, but Friday's loss was a tough one.
"Tonight they were able to hit a couple more shots than us. That's what it boiled down to," said McClain, who had 6 points and 4 assists. "We had a lot of ups and downs and some nice win streaks. On the bright side these guys will be back here next year. I'll be in the stands (cheering). They're going to remember this. Remember how this feels and they'll be back."
In a defensive struggle of a first half, York led 17-14 at the break as the Huskies went 5 for 12 from the floor and York shot 7 for 25. With Pat Grabowski tallying 8 of his game-high 16 points in the third quarter, York (19-12) led by as many as nine points at 25-16 before the Huskies fought back.
"It was a close game and I knew I had to ramp it up," said Grabowski, a 6-foot-5 senior. "We had to finish it off. We definitely battled hard defensively. That's what we had to do to get the win."
With Mitch Lewis, Tyler Carlson and McClain all hitting timely 3s in the second half, Naperville North (23-5) stayed close, but in the end it was the Dukes senior leadership and free throws that made the difference. York was 12 for 13 from the line while the Huskies made just 5 of 14 foul shots.
"Hats off to Vince (Doran) and his team. They're very very tough," Huskies coach Jeff Powers said. "They hit their free throws and we were terrible at the free-throw line. But all in all our kids played with a lot of heart, a lot of toughness. To get it all the way back and have a chance there … they're just competitors and their will is tough."
Sophomore Chris Johnson, Naperville North's leading scorer and rebounder, returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday's regional semifinal victory over Downers Grove North due to illness. He had 5 points and 4 rebounds.
On this night it was just that Camp and his fellow Dukes seemed to have all the answers at just the right times.
"Ryan Camp's 3 was just enormous," Doran said. "That didn't surprise anybody from Elmhurst, I can tell you that. He's one of the toughest kids I've ever coached. He loves the moments. He stepped up and hit a huge one. That was the shot of the game for sure."