Lake Forest sneaks by Libertyville in OT
Before the start of the varsity boys basketball game between Lake Forest and host Libertyville Friday night, John Graham - a member of Libertyville's sophomore hoops squad - smiled and delivered a message to big brother Patrick Graham, a senior forward on the varsity.
"He told me, 'Try to top that,' " Patrick would recall later.
John Graham struck for 31 points in the sophomore team's victory before Patrick Graham, Will Moore and Jackson Watson were honored on Senior Night.
Big bro did not surpass little bro's point total in the North Suburban Conference tilt, but the excitement level at the end of the varsity's 54-53 overtime loss to Lake Forest's Scouts easily topped the tenor of the sophomore contest's second half.
Libertyville's parent club - minus ill and homebound starters Blake Ellingson and Chase Bonder - overcame a 36-29 deficit after three quarters, produced a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter and got a pair of 3-pointers from Moore in the final 1:03 of regulation to force the extra session.
LF (17-11, 8-5) capitalized on Libertyville's 5 missed free throws in OT, with sophomore Cade Nowik hitting a steely 3 to give the Scouts a 52-51 edge with 28 ticks left and senior Grant Kaus netting a runner with 3 seconds left for the game-winning bucket.
Moore (18 points) had put the Wildcats (18-10, 7-6) up 53-52 with a pair of freebies. His valiant corner trey try, as the buzzer sounded, clanked the back of the rim, and an exuberant band of Scouts celebrated a season sweep of the Wildcats.
"The group in there ... it fights," Wildcats coach Brian Zyrkowksi, standing outside the home locker room, said. "To do what my players did tonight, against a team like that and without two of our starters, made me proud.
"Fun basketball game," he added. "Great basketball game, too."
Patrick Graham performed admirably in his final game on the home hardwood, pouring in 16 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds, including 8 off the offensive glass, before fouling out in OT.
"Second half, we found something, found a spark," said Graham, who scored 6 of his team's 8 points in the first quarter and the first 3 points of that 4-minute, 10-0 spurt that started at the 6:25 mark of the fourth frame.
"The intensity picked up," he added.
And the fans in the student section graduated to full lather, particularly after Moore connected from 3-point terrain to knot that game at 47 with 14 seconds remaining.
Lake Forest's Nowik (8 points) made his huge triple on a designed play, before Kaus came through with his clutch basket. Scouts coach Phil LaScala noted afterward that standout freshman Asa Thomas (16 points) had been covered closely when the 6-foot Kaus went to work in the lane.
Junior Jack Malloy, coming off a 20-point night in loss to Zion-Benton on Tuesday, also poured in 16 points for the Scouts, seeded eighth in the Class 4A Prospect sectional to the Wildcats' fourth seed.
Libertyville's loss Friday night stung. You only had to look at Patrick Graham face to learn that. But the Wildcat cracked a slight smile when he discussed his brother John's 31-point game - and promising future.
"He'll be fun to watch," Patrick said.