Rolling Meadows falls just short vs. New Trier
Rolling Meadows just missed on a golden opportunity Saturday.
Playing New Trier in the 12th annual "War on the Shore" at Loyola Academy, Meadows could have vaulted to the top of the upcoming Class 4A Glenbrook South sectional seeding with a win over the Trevians.
Things looked great for the Mustangs until midway through the third quarter. But that's when New Trier exploded and the Trevians were able to secure a 60-56 win.
New Trier (22-2), which beat Glenbrook South on Thursday, now has the inside track for the sectional's top seed.
Rolling Meadows (22-3) will still have an opportunity to get the No. 2 seed when the Mustangs host Glenbrook South on February 8, the week the seeding meetings are held.
"It was a great high school basketball game with a great atmosphere," Rolling Meadows coach Katovich said. "That's why we came here. We wanted to see where we measure up with a team like New Trier."
Meadows junior Cameron Christie scored 10 of his 18 points in the first quarter and the other 8 points in the fourth quarter.
"We had a good game plan," Christie said. "We are sad about the loss. But we are not just going to take it as a loss. We are going to watch film and do everything we can to improve."
The Mustangs made a move midway through the second quarter that put them in a good spot.
Tsvet Sotirov, Ian Miletic, Orlando Thomas and Foster Ogbonna each hit a 3-pointer on four consecutive possessions as Meadows spurted to a 25-16 lead with 4:23 left in the half. But, the Mustangs would go scoreless for the remainder of the quarter as the Trevians cut the margin to 25-20 at the half.
Meadows came out strong to begin the second half. The Mustangs were able to regain that 9-point advantage on a basket by Milentic to make it 33-24 with 3:43 left in the quarter.
That's when New Trier made its move.
The Trevians went on an 11-0 run, thanks to a trio of 3-pointers, to pull ahead 35-33.
The game was tied four times after that when New Trier pulled ahead for good. The Trevians would then have a modest 6-0 run to lead 51-44 3:07 left to play.
Rolling Meadows got as close as 55-53 with 1:02 to play on a 3-pointer by Thomas. But New Trier hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
"We felt good going into the game," said Thomas, who finished with 11 points. "It is definitely sad that we lost. But it is not the end of the world. It is all about improving and getting ready for the next game."
Ogbonna finished with 10 points, Milentic had 5 points and Mark Nikolich-Wilson had 5 points and 11 rebounds for Meadows.
New Trier was led by Jackson Munro, who had 23 points. Noah Shannon had 14 points, Karlo Colak 9 points and Jake Fiegen 8 points.
"We have played six ranked teams in the last three weeks," New Trier coach Scott Fricke said. "It has been a gauntlet. I thought we were real fortunate to be down five at the half. I thought our intensity was very good in the second half."