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Masys' late 3 lifts Willowbrook over Larkin

Matas Masys was not the first option for Willowbrook Tuesday evening.

"We drew it up to read the slip play (to Ethan Schuemer)," Masys said.

But the Larkin boys basketball team denied the Warriors the option.

Masys flared out to the left wing instead and canned a 3-pointer with less than four seconds to play to give No. 3 Willowbrook a thrilling 70-67 victory over the No. 2 Royals in nonconference action in Villa Park.

Larkin senior Anthony Lynch had tied the game at 67-67 as part of his game-high 27-point performance with 32 seconds to play.

But Lynch lost Masys in traffic on the game-winning shot.

"That was my man," Lynch said. "It was a back screen. I couldn't get there in time."

Masys' 3-pointer with slightly less than two minutes to play halved the Warriors' deficit to 65-62.

Schuemer, who kept Willowbrook (17-3) in the game in the first half with 13 of his team-high 23 points, had a reverse layup, to reduce the Royals' advantage to a mere point.

Marshawn Phillips' 3-point play on the ensuing possession then gave the Warriors the lead, only to see Lynch slash to the basket to forge the last of five ties.

"We just have to keep playing hard and move on from this," Lynch said.

On a night with many supporting storylines, perhaps none was more significant for Willowbrook than Everett Stubblefield scoring 13 points as the Warriors' fourth man off the bench.

"Today was my first varsity game," said Stubblefield, who drained a critical 3-pointer to neutralize the sixth field goal from beyond the arc by Larkin sharpshooter Pierre Black.

The Stubblefield equalizer tied the game at 59-59.

"I thought I was going to get moved up over the weekend (from the sophomore team)."

"(Stubblefield) wasn't an unknown for us," Willowbrook coach Chris Perkins said. "He just had a 42-point (underclass) game at Downers South. I was like, "All right. Enough of that.'"

Lynch had a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first, and the Royals (14-6) continued to roll into the halftime intermission as Black had three 3-pointers as part of his 20-point explosion as the sixth man for Larkin.

"That's my role, to be the shooter," Black said.

But the Royals' 33-25 lead at the break was soon a footnote as Willowbrook matched its first-half output in the third quarter alone.

Willowbrook had 6 steals in the quarter to trigger its offense, and there were five lead changes in as many possessions to frame the backdrop of the climatic fourth quarter.

"That was huge," said Masys, who finished with 13 points. "The more possessions we get, the more we score. That's the basis of the game."

"We didn't handle the ball well enough in the second half at all," Larkin coach Deryn Carter said. "We have too many senior guards, too much senior leadership to turn it over like that."

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