Best effort helps Wheeling prevail at Johnsburg

Wheeling's boys basketball team came up with a big finish on the road to claim a satisfying nonconference victory Tuesday.

The Wildcats produced a 21-point fourth quarter to edge host Johnsburg 78-76.

Michael Best had 7 points in the final period and finished with a team-best 26, along with 7 rebounds.

Phil Bucko drained three 3s and finished with 20 points for the Wildcats, and Jeremy Kim had 14 points.

Johnsburg junior Zach Toussaint led all scorers with 30 points, but Wheeling coach Michael O'Keeffe was pleased with the way his group approached the task at hand.

"Johnsburg is a really good team with one of the most underrated players in the state," O'Keeffe said. "We did a great job making him work for everything, and our kids competed for 32 minutes. We need to continue working hard in practice to get ready for a good Hersey team on Friday night."

Hoffman Estates 42, Lakes 34: Visiting Hoffman Estates held host Lakes to 9 first-half points in picking up a 42-34 nonconference victory on Tuesday in boys basketball.

Senior Logan McCann paced the Eagles with 15 points, including 3-for-3 at the foul line, and junior guard Brad Cherry had 11.

Hoffman Estates, which improved to 3-2, had no scorers in double figures but saw eight players score.

Senior forward James Allen led the way for the Hawks with 8 points.