West Aurora wins wild one in 2 OTs
For 32 minutes, West Aurora and Glenbard East did everything they could to win their DuPage Valley finale that would decide the conference runner-up.
For 4 minutes in overtime, those same two teams did everything they could to lose the game.
Markus Cocroft finally decided it was time to send everyone home - and make his final home game an even more memorable one.
Cocroft swished an NBA-range 3-pointer with 50 seconds to go in double overtime, giving West Aurora a 1-point lead in a game they won 57-54 when Zach Miller's 3-pointer rimmed out at the buzzer.
West Aurora (19-7, 11-3) overcame two strange calls at the end of both regulation and overtime, not to mention its own offensive breakdowns in overtime to finish alone in second behind Naperville Central.
I'll give both teams credit, I thought both teams battled," West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said. "It was a lot like the East High-West High game in that neither team played extremely well but both teams battled and it was a very competitive game."
Glenbard East (19-6, 10-4) rallied from a 27-21 halftime deficit by making 7 of 10 shots in the third quarter. After the Rams scored 20 points in that quarter, the pace slowed considerably in the forth.
West Aurora took two minutes off the clock on its first possession. Glenbard East sophomore Jon Hill's 3-point play tied the game at 44, the first of three fourth-quarter ties at 46 and 48. Bryson Hughes and Jamal Blackmond scored for the Blackhawks; Paul Sanders had a basket and 2 free throws for the Rams.
The Blackhawks tried holding for the final shot, but Cocroft was called for traveling with no defender around him and 6 seconds remaining. Jack Merrithey misfired on a 16-foot jumper, sending the game to overtime.
"I caught the ball and pivoted and took off," Cocroft said. "I was too fast for the ref."
After a well-played game that saw the Rams shoot 51 percent from the field and West Aurora 48 percent, both teams struggled in overtime. The Blackhawks turned the ball over on its first four possessions; Glenbard East wasn't much better, missing two 3-pointers and turning it over twice.
The second Rams turnover came with 5 seconds remaining and led to a frantic final-second West Aurora fastbreak that ended with Miller fouling Cocroft as he went up for a layup and no time left. The officials ruled the foul came on the floor and West Aurora wasn't yet in the bonus, so the game went to a second overtime without Cocroft going to the line.
Sanders, who led both teams with 23 points, hit 2 free throws to put Glenbard East ahead 54-52 with 1:11 left in the second OT. Cocroft responded with his only 3-pointer, the last of 19 lead changes or ties.
"That was a wild game," Cocroft said. "Coach told me to keep shooting. I guess when the game was on the line it came to me and I knocked it down."
Cocroft led West Aurora with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals. Blackmond added 12 points and Juwan Starks 11; Hill joined Sanders in double figures for the Rams with 11.
"They made a couple more plays than we did, that's what it boiled down to," Glenbard East coach Scott Miller said. "Lots of intensity, lots of excitement."