Round Lake beats Lakes in battle to the buzzer
Traveling violations were ignored. Obvious fouls, too.
Lakes vs. Round Lake.
Post-up moves. Fadeaways. Fans cheered louder with each basket. Lakes guard Rosie Tekampe jumped enthusiastically off the bench and ran onto the court after a banked-in bucket.
The battle went down to the buzzer.
Who won?
Who cares?
The impromptu game of 1-on-1 that broke out at halftime of Saturday's girls basketball matinee at Lakes pitted a pair of a grade-school boys, after all. The fans - and players - loved it.
"He's our official water boy," Round Lake coach Molly Hennig said with a smile of freshman starter Lilli Burton's brother, second-grader Daniel, who took on Devin Phelan, son Lakes coach Brian Phelan.
"Daniel plays with us, so he'll play anybody," Round Lake center Amari Cole said.
"Very exciting," Panthers guard Taylor Major added of the unexpected halftime game that ended when the buzzer to start the second half went off. "I was not expecting that when we came back out on the floor."
The varsity game also came down to the buzzer, almost. Major sank both ends of a 1-and-1 twice in the final 32 seconds, and suddenly hot Round Lake held on for a 42-37 win in Northern Lake County Conference action.
Cole, a 6-foot sophomore, tallied game bests of 20 points and 15 rebounds, as the Panthers improved to 8-18 and 5-6 in the NLCC with their fifth win in six games. Cole has made steady progress in her second varsity season and played through an ankle injury she suffered after Christmas.
"She was able to use her size today," Hennig said. "She works hard in practice at going up strong and getting on the boards."
Cole missed 4 free throws in 7 attempts in the first three quarters but was clutch in the fourth, making 3 of 4, including 2 of 2 with 13.8 seconds to go. Lakes (4-19, 3-8) trailed by 12 points late in the third but twice got within 4 down the stretch.
"I was just working hard to show my mom that I'm trying my hardest," said Cole, noting her mother played for Waukegan.
Major has made an earlier-than-expected to the Round Lake lineup after undergoing ACL surgery on her left knee last May 30. After missing the Panthers' first 21 games, she's helped her team win 4 of 5 games.
"It was driving me crazy [sitting out]," Major said. "Now that I think about, the games early in the season, even though I really wanted to play, I was not ready."
Scoreless at halftime, Major scored 8 of her 11 points in the fourth quarter. She went 2 of 4 from three-point range.
"She really brings leadership to the team," Hennig said. "Just her floor presence. You can see the difference when she's on the court and when she's not. Even in practice or when she's on the bench, she just leads us, especially for being only a sophomore. And then she steps up and makes those big free throws at the end."
"It felt good," Major said of her free throws in the final minute. "At first, it was a little bit in my head. Then I was like, 'I got this.' "
Lilli Burton (Daniel's big sister) added 9 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals for Round Lake.
Lakes was led by junior point guard Tekampe's 11 points (8 of 10 from the foul line). In a season that has seen the Eagles lose a lot more than they have won, the second-year varsity player has been a bright spot.
"Rosie's leadership is unbelievable," Phelan said. "Very surprisingly awesome. I was nervous if it was going to be good this year. She works hard in practice, took my daughter [Kendall, freshman starter] under her wing. She's been great."