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Schaumburg dumps Conant

Throughout the roller coaster ride that was Friday night's Conant vs. Schaumburg boys basketball game, there was one constant.

Schaumburg's defensive effort.

The Saxons built a big early lead, saw the visiting Cougars stage a heroic rally to get within striking distance, then clamped down again on defense at the end.

Schaumburg won 54-49 in the Mid-Suburban West rivalry game.

"We're always communicating, always talking, and that's what gets us going," said Saxons senior guard Mike Hodges (15 points) of the Schaumburg defensive plan.

"It got a little nervous at the end," said teammate Arnav Karnik, "but we were able to stay calm and convert."

Heze Trotter led Schaumburg with a game-high 21 points, while Jonathan Kolev scored 18 for Conant, 16 of those coming in the fourth quarter.

"Jonathan was making shots, he's been playing with a lot of confidence as of late," said Cougars coach Jim Maley.

"We just didn't come ready to go, but I'm proud of our guys for the second half effort."

Schaumburg ran out to a 13-0 first-quarter lead, then extended it to 17-2 on a steal and dunk from Trotter.

Conant played even-up with the Saxons in the second stanza and closed to within 31-17 on a steal and layup by Dominic Benigni at the intermission buzzer.

"We talked (at halftime) about how we got to be up 14 points, it wasn't just one or two plays, it was just being really solid," said Schaumburg coach Wade Heisler.

A dunk from Schaumburg forward Chris Hodges put the home team up 46-29 late in the third quarter, but Conant started to chip away.

Then the Cougars roared back in the fourth quarter, fueled by a relentless full-court press, and when Kolev hit a 3-pointer late, the Cougars trailed just 50-46.

But a steal and layup from Trotter with under a minute remaining put Schaumburg up by 6,

"We stayed composed," said Chris Hodges. "We just said 'we got this' - we've been in situations like this before, we know the outcome, we know we've just got to keep working and do the things that got us here."

Kolev hit another long 3 to bring Conant closer, but the Saxons were able to close it out with tough defense in the waning minutes with key free throws by Mike Hodges and Trotter.

"We really pride ourselves on defense," said Heisler, "and Shamaree Brown really helped us defensively tonight. Our guys gave great effort - Chris, Mike and Heze were very good.

"Jared Schoo came up with some big plays as well. It was a total team effort."

Rajat Mittal scored 16 points for Conant, while Chris Hodges finished with 18 points and 9 boards for the Saxons.

"We stayed consistent tonight, stayed composed through the ups and downs," said Chris Hodges. "As a team we got after it."

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