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Conant stymies Wheeling

As Wheeling entertained Conant in a Mid-Suburban League boys basketball crossover that served as the regular-season finale for both teams, there was a look backward to the past that serves as an inspiration toward the beginning of next week's IHSA tournament.

That look back was to the winter of 1997 when both programs finished the regular season with losing records then turned it on in the postseason as both won regional crowns with Conant winning four in a row to land a Class AA supersectional berth.

Flash forward to Tuesday night's game where thanks to its veteran-laden starting lineup, the visiting Cougars prevailed 43-29 to net their 11th win on the season.

Interestingly enough, that was the same number of victories the 1996-97 Conant squad had at the end of the regular season before going on its magical run.

"I think the big part was that we played good defense," Conant coach Jim Maley said. "We struggled a little bit in the second quarter but we were able to overcome it and extend the lead later in the in the game. It was a pretty good effort."

Conant (11-16) saw an early 11-0 start in the first quarter go by the boards in the final 1:13 of the first half as the hosts went on a 6-0 run that put them within 20-14 at the break on a Jeremy Kim dish inside to Joe Jordan just before the halftime buzzer went off.

That's when the Cougars turned up the defense as they held the Wildcats to just 3 of 22 from the field in the third quarter as they rebuilt their 11-point lead for good at quarter's end (31-20), a margin that Wheeling could get no closer than the rest of the way.

Senior forward Raj Mittal paced Conant with an 18-point, 19-rebound effort followed by sophomore Devon Ellis with 11. Kim led Wheeling (10-19) with 9 points.

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