Bears Trapped By Scouts After 3-Pointer at Buzzer

So close yet so far. Through careful, well-executed ball control, Lake Zurich nursed a slender lead against Lake Forest in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter in their Monday night IHSA quarterfinals game. Leading 45-42 with seven seconds left on the clock, the Scouts’ coach Phil LaScala called a time out.

“I told our guys that we’ll probably get one shot, and make it a good one,” said LaScala.

That’s exactly what junior guard Thomas Durrett did. Aided by a perfect kick-out by teammate John Hayes, Durrett nailed a 3-pointer up left of the free throw line, tying the game at 45 to send it into overtime. Unfortunately for the Bears, the Scouts then proceeded to play their best basketball of the evening, outscoring Lake Zurich in the four-minute overtime period 15-4 for a 60-49 victory.

“I really feel awful for our seniors,” said Bears coach Billy Pitcher. “They deserve to still be playing. I take 100 percent blame for the loss for not fouling up (number) three (Hayes).”

It was a relatively low-scoring game through the first three quarters; Lake Forest led 8-5 after the first quarter, it was tied 17-17 at halftime, and the Scouts were up after three quarters, 28-26. It was in the fourth quarter when things got interesting.

After getting off to a sluggish start, the Bears came back from an 8-2 deficit late in the first quarter, when Ryan Roach went 1-for-2 from the line and Mirko Grcic hit a layup off the boards to make it 8-5 entering the second period.

After Hayes tipped in a basket under the net for a 10-5 Scouts lead, Lake Zurich scored six consecutive points, on a tip-in by Roach, a layup by Grcic and a jumper left of the net by Drake Orser, to take an 11-10 advantage. The rest of the quarter was a back-and-forth exchange of baskets by both teams. Grcic nailed a 3-pointer behind the paint late in the quarter that gave his team a 17-15 lead.

The teams kept it close throughout the third quarter, as Lake Forest outscored the Bears 11-9 to take a 28-26 lead heading into the final quarter. The Bears did jump out to a 24-19 lead midway through the third quarter on the strength of Grcic’s fade away jumper that he followed with an easy layup after an alley-oop pass from Andy Cox. A successful free throw made it a three-point play after a foul was called at the end of the play.

The Scouts started to pull away at the beginning of the fourth. Senior guard Jack Ford’s 3-pointer on the far left side of the baseline made it 34-26 Scouts. Later in the quarter, Hayes’ jumper in front of the free throw line upped Lake Forest’s lead to 37-29.

The Bears started to chip away shortly thereafter. Mike Boyd’s layup, Grcic’s layup on a long pass from Boyd and Colin Rathe’s 3-pointer from the far left side along the baseline narrowed the Scout’s lead to 37-36. Eventually, Lake Zurich pushed ahead, taking a 41-38 advantage late in the quarter.

They were leading 44-40 with about 90 seconds remaining when Lake Forest executed their comeback, setting things up for Hayes’ heroics, as teammate Thomas Durrett kicked the ball out him to set up the shot and a memory that he’ll get to replay for the rest of his life.

Hayes’ shot seemed to take the wind out of the Bears’ sails, as they weren’t able to regroup in overtime and play with the same intensity they had displayed in the fourth quarter. The Scouts scored 11 unanswered points to take a 56-45 lead before Lake Zurich finally responded when Roach hit a pair at the line.

“Give Lake Forest and Durret credit--they made a big play that then carried the momentum over into the overtime,” said Pitcher. “I'm really proud of our seniors and all our guys. They played their hearts out and left it all on the floor.” 

Bears Pause: Mirko Grcic led Lake Zurich with 22 points and Ryan Roach had 12. It was the final game for five seniors on the team: Andy Cox, Colin Rathe, Tyler Every, Mike Boyd and Drake Orser.