Boys basketball: St. Viator’s closing kick nets regional title over Grayslake North

The championship game of the Class 3A Grayslake North boys basketball regional looked like could go down to the wire as the No. 10-seeded host Knights only trailed No. 4 St. Viator 33-29 with 4:59 to play.

But the visiting Lions did not want to deal with a lot of drama down the stretch of this pressure-packed contest. So they proceeded to outscore Grayslake North (17-15) 16-6 the rest of the way to capture the regional title by a score of 49-35.

That gave St. Viator (24-9) its 11th regional crown since 2001 and its fourth in the past seven seasons. With the win, the Lions will face two-time defending state champion DePaul College Prep (28-4) in the semifinals of the Antioch sectional Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Jaylan Szlachetka made an inside basket for a 35-29 lead before freshman Jacob Only (all 10 points in fourth quarter) scored on an assist by Brandyn Michaels for a 39-31 lead with 2:20 to play.

Then sophomore Dawson Charles (game-high 20 points) put home a dunk off of a turnover assisted by Szlachetka before a free throw by Michaels boosted the lead to 42-31 with 1:15 remaining.

"With Henry Marshall (averaging 18 points a game) who is one of the best players in the Chicago area out with an ankle injury tonight we had a lot of guys step up," said St. Viator coach Michael O'Keeffe. "We played without Henry in the past, and I think the experience we got playing without Henry early in the season paid off big time tonight because these kids are extremely confident no matter what is going on and off the court."

Grayslake North's Uros Mitrovic scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the first half while teammate Jayden Hunt had 12 of his 14 points in the second half. St. Viator's Davion Ellis hit double figures with 11 points while Tyler Morgan had 6 points for the Knights.

"I feel like we just wanted it more as a team. We've been working all season for this. And we had a tough loss in the regional last year so I feel like that gave us a little bit of an edge to come back out and get it done," said Ellis. "We just trust each other, trust the coaches and play our type of ball to beat anybody."

Grayslake North struggled offensively as it trailed 15-5 after one quarter, 21-13 at halftime, and 31-20 after three quarters. The Knights only shot 5-for-13 (38%) from the foul line.

"After we cut the lead to four they threw a double-team at Uros and they got a layup at the other end so I blame myself for not letting Uros know quick enough that the double was coming," said Grayslake North coach Josh Feinzimer. "But it didn't come down to that, their defense bothered us all night long, and we showed a ton of fight. I'm just unbelievably proud of our seniors for all they've given to the program and all they've put in."