Z-B has will, and finds way to win

BARRINGTON -- Area prep basketball coaches haven't found a way to contain Zion-Benton High for a majority of the season.

"Pick your poison" are the words which have been uttered by several coaches when trying to devise a scheme to slow down the talented Zee-Bees.

A Buffalo Grove team not very familiar with Zion didn't have much luck in any defensive strategy it chose on Tuesday, as the Zee-Bees piled up an 88-67 victory over the Bison in the semifinals of the Barrington Sectional.

Sophomore forward Lenzelle Smith poured in a game-high 30 points to pace the Zee-Bees (29-3), but he had plenty of offensive support from teammates Rodney Clinkscales (20 points), Ronald Steward (15 points) and Quintrell Love (12 points).

"We have a lot of players who can score and help us win," said Smith. "We all know what we need to do to be successful, and playing good defense is the biggest thing."

Zion picked up its defensive intensity in the second quarter with a full-court press, enabling the Zee-Bees to increase a 20-19 lead at the end of the first period to 35-30 at the break.

A 7-0 run to open the third quarter quickly gave Zion a 42-30 lead, but Buffalo Grove (20-9) showed some life at the end of the period when the Zee-Bees got careless with the basketball.

The Bison cut the lead to five points early in the fourth quarter, but then got in trouble once again while trying to double-team Steward at different spots on the floor, and the senior point guard made them pay by dishing out assists to teammates for easy baskets.

Smith was the beneficiary of several of those assists -- including his second three-point play of the fourth quarter with 3:07 remaining to put the game away at 74-61.

Smith also finished with a game-high 14 rebounds, with several coming on the offensive end.

"We concentrated on rebounding and not turning the ball over, and we accomplished that most of the game," said Zion coach Don Kloth. "Buffalo Grove is a quality team which posed some matchup problems for us when they made a lot of their 3-point shots early in the game.

"I thought we did a better job getting out on their shooters in the second half and limited them to one shot."

Zion-Benton will meet the winner of tonight's semifinal between Highland Park and Schaumburg on Friday in the sectional championship game.

Zion-Benton 88, Buffalo Grove 67

Buffalo Grove 19 11 19 18 -- 67

Zion-Benton 20 15 22 31 -- 88

Buffalo Grove (20-9): Timko 2 5-8 9, Mulligan 1 0-0 2, Timburg 4 0-0 12, Ricciardi 11 1-1 24, DeSimone 3 8-10 16, Wickman 1 0-0 3, Petitt 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 14-19 67.

Zion-Benton (29-3): Clinkscales 6 8-9 20, Steward 6 2-2 15, Stewart 0 1-3 3, Smith 12 4-6 30, Yarbrough 4 0-3 8, Love 3 6-8 12, Williams 0 0-0 0, Peet 0 0-0 0, Worthington 1 0-0 2. Totals 32 21-31 88.

3-point goals: Buffalo Grove 9 (Timburg 4, Ricciardi 2, DeSimone 2, Wickman 1), Zion-Benton 3 (Steward 1, Smith 2). Total team fouls - Buffalo Grove 21, Zion-Benton 16. Fouled out - Mulligan.