Davis, Conant take control against Lake Forest

As the fifth seed playing against the No. 12 seed, Conant's boys basketball team wasn't taking anything for granted on Tuesday night.

The Cougars used a strong fourth-quarter effort en route to a 50-31 victory in their Class 4A regional semifinal over Lake Forest.

Ryan Davis led Conant (21-7) with a double-double of 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Ben Schols added 16 points.

"It was tough. Lake Forest played really physical," Conant coach Jim Maley said. "They did a good job of guarding us inside. I thought Ryan (Davis) wore them down a bit. Once he gets going, he's tough to stop."

Lake Forest (12-16) made a run at the start of the fourth quarter and cut the lead to 31-25 when Mead Payne (9 points) hit a couple of free throws.

But Conant closed the game with a 19-6 run, as Davis dropped in 10 points and Schols scored 7.

"It's really about moving the ball around on offense and finding the open shots," Davis said. "We just spread out their defense, and that made it easier to pressure inside and go to work. I play physical and I'm going to work my way through to the basket."

Conant will next play Libertyville for the regional championship at 7 p.m. Friday at Deerfield.