Lyons Boys Dodge Hinsdale Upset in Incredible Overtime Thriller

They keep finding ways to win.

Two days after having to scramble to recover from a , the Lyons Township boys basketball team (21-2, 11-0 conference) again emerged victorious, this time from a 36-minute tooth-and-nail battle against their rivals from Hinsdale Central, 85-79.

The match on Hinsdale turf couldn’t have been more different from last month’s “blackout” game, . This time the teams were never more than five points apart for all of regulation—and each team led by five at one point. The game was tied at the end of three quarters, and the end of four.

And how insane was the fourth quarter? Enough to send the entire gym into a roaring frenzy. The Red Devils led 64-59 with a little over a minute left and tried to simply kill the clock for the win, but a forced turnover led to a quick Nick Zeisloft three-pointer.

Hinsdale’s Mike Pozulp was then fouled, making one of two, letting Lyons answer with a Mark Sewall layup-and-one with 34 seconds left. Sewall missed his tying free throw, but Lyons’ Spencer Mahoney snagged the fumbled rebound and put it back for his own and-one, giving LT a 66-65 lead.

Mahoney missed his own free throw, then fell on it in another crazy scramble underneath the net, giving the jump-ball to the Lions with 19 seconds on the clock. He took the inbound and was quickly fouled, making one of two: 67-65, Lions, 14 seconds left

The Red Devils swarmed down the court, and forward Brian Owens took it to the hoop, but missed the typing layup—only for 6’6’’ forward Mike Ostojic to swoop in and bank it into the net. 67-67.

With three seconds left, LT fed the ball to prime scoring threat Zeisloft, but his jumper to win it clanged off the rim. (“I knew that was off the moment I let go of it,” he would later confess. “I felt bad. I wish I had it back.”)

The back-and-forth duel continued into overtime—70-69 Hinsdale, 71-70 LT, 73-71 Hinsdale. But that was the last lead the Red Devils would see, as LT made the only real run of the night: an 8-0 charge fueled by back-to-back Mahoney layups.

Despite three downtown three-pointers from Hinsdale sharpshooter Brad Analuf in overtime, the Lions stopped any comeback attempt cold at the free-throw line, knocking down 12 of 14 in extra time alone. (Hinsdale made only one of four.)

“Obviously, in an overtime game, when you have the lead, you’re going to shoot free throws, and fortunately we were making them,” said LT coach Tom Sloan.

“We overcame a night on an opponent’s home floor where they made 14 three-point shots, and a lot of time when that happens, you’re not going to win. We took Hinsdale’s right hook, and we were able to gut it out.”

Zeisloft led the Lions with 29 points (including six three-pointers); Eric Powers had 17, and Mahoney 14, including the overtime layups that put the Lions ahead for good.

“Hinsdale came out ready to play, we were a little flat, but I’ll give them all the credit in the world,” said Mahoney. “They had a great shooting night, and I’m just glad that we gutted this one out.”

It was a surprisingly strong performance for the 5-17 Red Devils against a team recently ranked 11^th in the state. A Hinsdale win—one minute away from happening—would have been an earth-shattering upset.

For Hinsdale, Anlauf racked up seven three-pointers total en route to a 26-point game, while Tom Garvin had 16, Pozulp 11 and Ostotic 10.

"We shot the ball well tonight,” said Red Devils coach Nick Latorre. “Once the ball got rolling last time, we had a hard time. Tonight, we were able to play a bit more conservatively, be comfortable, and I think that might have helped us."

The Lions now move on to a huge game versus Proviso East at the UIC Pavilion today, Saturday; the Red Devils are off until next Friday, when they host Glenbard West.