Story posted Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Patriots Pull Away From Huskies; Buffalo Grove Limits Richmond
Schaumburg and Barrington remain the only Mid Suburban League teams still alive in the IHSA boys basketball post-season after Hersey, Buffalo Grove and Prospect all dropped regional title games Friday.
The Saxons topped Hoffman Estates and Barrington beat Streamwood to win regional championships. But Hersey couldn't pull another upset against Stevenson, Buffalo Grove fell to No. 1 Waukegan and Prospect fell late to New Trier (see separate story).
At Warren
The No. 14 Huskies came into Friday's game feeling confident after a play-in win and upset over No. 4 Lake Forest last week.
Hersey played right with No. 5 Stevenson for nearly the entire game, but a 9-0 run late in the fourth quarter sealed a 48-39 Patriot win.
Stevenson was scheduled to face top-seeded Waukegan in last night's (Tuesday's) Waukegan sectional semifinal.
Kevin Earl led the Patriots with 14 points while Nate Johnson added 12 in a mostly defensive battle.
Kyle Miklasz led Hersey with 13 points and Tom Sutrinaitis added 11. The Huskies were within two late in the fourth quarter after Connor Miklasz connected on a short lay-up.
But shortly after, Mark Swanson launched a long inbounds pass down court to Earl, who was fouled and hit both free throws. The Patriots followed with seven straight points to take control.
Hersey finishes the season at 16-13.
At Buffalo Grove
The No. 9 Bison stayed with top-seed Waukegan for much of the first half, but ultimately the No. 1 ranked team in Illinois was too much. A 13-0 Bulldog run gave Waukegan control as they cruised to a 73-52 win.
Buffalo Grove did a good job of limiting University of Illinois-recruit Jereme Richmond to 12 points and even led 12-5 late in the first quarter. But the Bulldogs turned up the defense and used a quick transition game to get ahead for good.
Akeem Springs led Waukegan with 17, Mike Springs added 15 and Quan Connor scored 12. BG's Nick Prus did his best to keep the Bison in the game, scoring a game-high 20 points.
Senior Kevin Mulligan, a staple of the Bison for several years now, finished with six points while battling foul trouble. Dan Recht and Tom Ricciardi also scored six.
The Bison finish the season with a 16-10 record.
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