Rochelle Zell outlasts Vernon Hills in 2 OTs
Josh Liu came off the bench in the second half and gave Vernon Hills the spark it needed during a 13-point rally.
The junior guard shined defensively down the stretch with a couple of steals to help force overtime. His quick hands caused havoc in the backcourt for Rochelle Zell.
"Sometimes they're not ready for it," said Liu, who had 6 points and 5 steals. "It felt good coming back, but you have to finish the game. It's easy to get wrapped up in (the moment) when you come back, but you have to keep the momentum going into the overtimes."
That didn't happen for visiting Vernon Hills, which fell 78-77 in double overtime in Deerfield on Thursday night.
The Cougars (2-9) had momentum swing their way into the OT sessions, but fell just short.
"(Rochelle Zell) has a nice squad and they know how to make some tough shots," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. "You have to take your hats off to them. They did a nice job in the second overtime. We had them down a couple of times and they came back every time. We threw a right hook and they threw a left hook. It was a clutch shot by their player down the stretch."
Rochelle Zell (10-3) was without starting point guard Sammy Vayngart, who has been out with a concussion the last couple of weeks. Lee Farkas scored the final 5 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 15 seconds left.
Farkas, who scored a team-high 19 points, has three game-winning shots this season.
"It was a big shot for Farkas," said Rochelle Zell coach Marty Dello, whose school has 179 students (Class 1A). "We have a lot of respect for Vernon Hills. We have been playing them for eight years. Great program and a great coach. They were battling and we were hitting some big shots. Down the stretch, we did what we wanted to do."
Brian Silverstein added 17 points for the Tigers, Noam Efergan had 12 and Jake Silvers chipped in 11.
Vernon Hills was led by Ryan Jacobson with 23 points and 9 rebounds and Jack Barszcz with 20 points.
The Cougars were down 46-33 midway through the third quarter. They got within 50-40 entering the fourth.
Vernon Hills took advantage of ball pressure and a few Liu steals to chip away at the lead. Barszcz tied the score with a short jump shot with two seconds left in the fourth.
"Josh Liu came off the bench and gave us a really nice effort with on-the-ball pressure," McCarty said. "He was the catalyst of that comeback."
The score was tied at 69-69 after the first four-minute overtime. In the second OT, Vernon Hills took a two-point lead a couple of times in the final minute behind a couple of short jump shots from Barszcz.
Vernon Hills starts a stretch of six games in the next 10 days with a Central Suburban League North game on Friday night, before playing in the Maine East tournament after Christmas.