Mundelein comes back to down Wheeling

After upsetting No. 13-seed Zion-Benton on Monday night, No. 20 Wheeling had an even bigger obstacle when the Wildcats faced No. 4 Mundelein Tuesday night in a Class 4A boys basketball regional game.

And Wheeling (12-19) gave the Mustangs (19-11) all they could handle as a 3-pointer by senior Michael Best gave the Wildcats a 36-33 lead with 7:16 to play.

But the tide started to turn quickly as a 3-pointer by Mundelein sophomore Conor Enright tied the game 29 seconds later, and the Mustangs never looked back as they scored the final 15 points of the contest for a 48-36 semifinal victory.

Mundelein faces the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 5 Deerfield and No. 12 Grant for the regional championship Friday at 7 p.m. The Mustangs defeated Deerfield by 2 points back in November.

Wheeling really made the Mustangs work for every point they got for the first three quarters.

But 6-foot-8 sophomore center Scottie Ebube (game-high 24 points) was a major force in putting the pesky Wildcats away in the fourth quarter as his inside basket and 4 straight free throws boosted the lead to 42-36 with 2:55 to play.

"I knew it was going to be a tough game because they beat Zion-Benton (Monday) night," said Ebube, who also had a team-high 12 rebounds. "We wanted to win, we gave a lot of effort on defense, and I didn't want my team to go down."

Best had a strong game with 12 of his team-high 18 points in the first half and five 3-pointers overall. But Mundelein switching to a 1-3-1 zone defense in the second half held the Wildcats to only 12 points in the second half as the Mustangs outscored Wheeling 15-3 in the final period.

Two free throws by Jack Bikus extended the lead to 44-36 with 1:22 remaining before Enright (10 points, 5 rebounds) scored off a turnover to make the score 46-36 with 49 seconds left. After hitting only 5-for-10 from the free throw line, Mundelein went 9-for-9 from the line in the final 8:51 to help pull away.

"We played great in the first half, and the entire game plan was to minimize the damage of Ebube and Enright," said Wheeling coach Michael O'Keeffe, whose team led 24-21 at halftime. "Mundelein did a great job going to a 1-3-1 on defense in the second half, it changed the tempo of the game, and we didn't hit the shots in the second half."

Wheeling senior guard Jeremy Kim scored 6 of his 9 points in the second half while Mundelein senior Andrew Gonzalez played a key role for his squad with 7 points and 7 rebounds, including a 3-point play late in the third quarter to deadlock the score at 33-33.

"We had to mix it up a little because they execute so well on offense," said Mundelein coach Matt Badgley, whose team trailed 13-11 after one quarter as Best hit three 3-pointers. "We went zone at halftime and we were really focusing on 23 (Best), and 4 (Kim). We got a little hurried early, but down the stretch we were able to execute and take care of the basketball a little better."

Best and the Wildcats put up a valiant effort on their home court, but they were unable to work their magic one more time late in the 2018-19 season.

"Michael has been the face of our program the last couple of years," added O'Keeffe. "And we couldn't ask for a better kid to lead our program."