McGrath reaches 1,000-point mark in Lisle win

Lisle's first achievement came easy, the second more difficult.

On a free throw 1:09 into Tuesday's Interstate Eight Conference basketball game against Manteno, senior forward Mark McGrath scored his 1,000th point in his third year on varsity.

"It's a pretty cool accomplishment. I've been thinking about it for three or four years now, and for the day to finally come is pretty special," said McGrath, whose landmark was followed by a pause in the game so Lions coach Mark LaScala could award him a commemorative plaque.

"Make the free throw," McGrath thought at the line, "and if you do you've hit a good achievement that you've been striving for. I wasn't really overthinking it too much, it's just a free throw."

They could have used more, as LaScala said after the Lions missed 11 of 25 foul shots. Coming down to a last shot, Lisle (3-5, 1-1) earned the 63-60 victory when Manteno's Skyler Schulteis had a 3-point try bounce off the rim just before the final horn.

"We got a lot of second chances, and we needed them," LaScala said. Lisle outrebounded the Panthers 40-22, its 18 offensive boards nearly equaling the total for Manteno (2-5, 0-2).

The loss marred a fabulous game by Panthers guard Eric DeRossett, who scored a game-high 26 points with four 3-pointers and 2 steals.

Josh Jamison, optimistically rostered at 6-foot-2, led all players with 12 rebounds, one more than McGrath, who scored a team-high 19 points. His sophomore brother, Jay McGrath, scored 10 and Brian O'Connell scored 15, including three 3-pointers.

Jamison's 6 third-quarter rebounds, 3 of them offensive, held off Manteno despite Lisle shooting 7 of 21 in the quarter.

"I try to box out first," Jamison said, "and if that doesn't work then I just try to out-jump everybody in the gym."

Lisle led 52-47 with 3:47 to play when DeRossett scored or assisted on 11 of Manteno's last 13 points. O'Connell hit 2 free throws with 24.6 second remaining, DeRossett following with a pair for the 63-60 margin.

Lisle went 0 for 4 from the line over a four-second span, though between possessions Grant Haen's offensive rebound tip to Mark McGrath limited the Panthers to that one final chance.

"I thought our kids really, really battled hard," LaScala said. "And, of course, Mark getting his 1,000th point was a neat highlight."