Wheeling denies Round Lake with late-game surge
After Round Lake's Chris Pierre started the fourth quarter with a both a 3- and a 2-point basket, the Panthers led 36-28 with 6:50 left in the boys basketball game at Wheeling.
But turnovers and fouls by the Panthers the rest of the way saw the host Wildcats pull out a 47-42 win Tuesday night.
Round Lake remains winless at 0-7 while Wheeling improved to 3-6.
"We've been in a few close games this season," said Wheeling coach Michael O'Keeffe. "Those types of games have helped prepare us. When we started to press and put pressure on the ball, we were able to get some turnovers. The kids played hard for 32 minutes. These kids are very coachable and don't quit."
Round Lake opened a 7-1 lead in the first quarter to tie the game at 7 after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Panthers led 16-11 with 2:11 left in the first half before Wheeling finished the quarter on a 6-0 run.
Michael Best scored 4 of his 12 points and had 7 rebounds in the run. D.J. Godlewski scored on 2 free throws to get Wheeling the lead at 17-16.
"We were trying to stay in it when they would get ahead," said Best. "We knew we would have to execute our offense, hit free throws and do the little things like get the 50-50 balls if we were going to win."
Breaking a tie at 22 with 5:45 left in the third quarter, Round Lake spun off a 7-0 run with Alex Larson hitting a 3 and Nick Pierre and Lucas Hollingsworth (12 points) hitting buckets to take the lead.
Mario Lomanto and Jeremy Kim connected on back-to-back 3s to reel the Panthers in again before Musiq Brantley hit a basket to give Round Lake a 31-28 lead.
"We haven't been in a position like this leading in the fourth quarter," said Round Lake coach Jeremy Fisher. "We didn't take very good care of the basketball. They hit some big shots and made free throws. Things just didn't go our way. We just couldn't hit enough shots at the end."
Wheeling went on a 10-0 run sparked by freshman Joe Jordan, who scored all 6 of his points and pulled down all 7 of his rebounds in the fourth quarter.
With 3:55 left in the game, Larson fouled Phil Bucko on a drive to the basket. Larson protested and was called for a technical foul. With the personal Larson had to leave the game with 5 fouls.
Kim hit both technical free throws, and with Bucko hitting 1 of 2, Wheeling was able to tie the game at 38.
Best scored to put the Wildcats ahead, but Hollingsworth tied the game at 40 with a basket with 1:54 left.
Best hit 1 of 2 free throws for a 41-40 lead with 1:44 left. Bucko followed with his only basket of the night a 3 and a 44-40 lead.
Ryan Lowe's basket with :54 left pulled Round Lake to 44-42.
Kim (13 points) nailed 2 free throws with :11 left, and Jordan hit a final free throw just before game's end.
"This has been a learning experience for me," said Jordan. "The coaches have worked hard with me to work on my positioning on the floor. Because I'm not the biggest player on the floor (6-foot-3) I have had to work on finesse and footwork. I give a lot of credit to D.J. - he played some great defense on No. 30 (Chris Pierre) and Kim hit some big fourth quarter free throws for us."
Chris Pierre led Round Lake with 13 points. Lowe had 8 rebounds.