Plainfield North feels the Payne of a loss
PONTIAC -- In a thrilling semifinal game played before a near capacity crowd in an old downstate gymnasium, Plainfield North's last-play tournament luck ran out.
Schaumburg's Cully Payne took an inbounds pass from teammate Justin Swiercz, broke free around a screen near the halfcourt line as time wound down in Wednesday afternoon's high school boys basketball battle with the Tigers at the 78th annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament.
Payne, a 6-foot-1 senior guard who is headed to Alabama, fired in a 25-footer from near the orange volleyball line in the Saxons' 50-48 victory. When the ball left his hand, about 2 seconds remained on the clock.
He was mobbed on the floor by teammates and Schaumburg's student manager as the three referees huddled to determine whether North had called timeout before the horn sounded. Eight-tenths of a second were put back on the block.
Chris McMath's inbounds pass was batted down by Schaumburg's Chris Kelly and the Tigers' improbable run to the Final Four was history. McMath's three-point play at the buzzer boosted North to a 62-61 victory over top seed Waukegan on Tuesday.
"We knew the ball was going to Cully (Payne)," North coach Nick DiForti said. "Big-time players make big-time plays. And he made a big-time player. That's all you can ask from our players -- we got a hand in his face. Nobody was sagging off."
Payne finished with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-21 shooting. He made 5-of-9 three-pointers. He also chipped in 3 assists and 2 steals. And he was the biggest part of Schaumburg's two-man scoring tag-team.
Swiercz poured in 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He also made five 3s as the Saxons (13-0) rallied from a 22-11 second-quarter deficit behind the two gunners to remain undefeated heading into Wednesday night's title game vs. Warren.
Perrish Bell was the only other player to score for Schaumburg. He had 3 points -- all of them coming in the second half. His production was limited because of foul trouble.
North (12-2) placed four individuals in double figures. Reggie Lemon led the way with 11 points. He also had three assists and three steals. McMath, Ryan Crow and Scott Vachon each scored 10 points.
Crow came off the bench to sink three 3s.
The Tigers used a 10-0 run spanning the final 1:09 of the first quarter and the first 2:16 of the second to build their 22-11 lead. Kendall Frank capped the spurt with a pair of free throws.
He drew the assignment of trying to guard Payne on the final play.
North had gone ahead seconds earlier.
Payne was trapped in the corner and stripped of the ball by Frank. McMath's pass set up Vachon for a drive to the basket. He missed his shot but was fouled by Schaumburg's Josh Spandiary.
Vachon sank both free throws to put the Tigers on top 48-47 with :23.3 left.
Payne drove the lane on the other end, missed on a hanging-off balance shot attempt. Vachon rebounded and North was in position to gain a berth in the championship game for an instant. But the Tigers were whistled for an over-and-back infraction on Lemon's pass to Vachon at the center line.
A television replay seemed to indicate neither of his feet had landed in the front court adding an element of controversy to a bang-bang play. The rule is a player cannot be called for over-and-back if his feet haven't landed in the front court and he hasn't established the position on the floor.
Schaumburg called timeout with 6.3 remaining. The Saxons drew up a play that was supposed to put the ball in Bell's hands.
"We figured if we put Perrish (Bell) there they were going to help off him, which they did," Payne said. "I stepped in and got the ball. It was one of those things where either you're going to be the hero or everybody's going to hate you.
"Tonight was a hero night. The shot felt good coming off. My dad is a coach, some I'm always working on deep, deep, deep. So, it kind of came in handy."
Payne said he never before had been involved in game where two players scored 47 of the 50 points for one team.
"Actually, I didn't even notice that until I just looked," he said. "It was just one of those things where me and Swiercz had it going early. Everyone else was playing great off the ball, which was huge for us."
Payne tipped his cap to the Tigers.
"They're a great team," he said. "They play great 'D' -- they played great 'D' on me. They were all over trailing. They can score. They're big. They're definitely underrated, like a lot of teams."
As he spoke, he thought of his turnover on North's trap in the corner and the message that might be waiting for him on his cell phone.
"I didn't see the trap coming right away," Payne said. "But I know as soon I look at my phone my dad is going to be blowing me up with that one. That was a dumb turnover. I'll be hearing about that one later."
North finished with a 10-0 edge in points off the bench as DiForti stuck with his seven-man rotation.
"I'm so proud of our kids," he said. "Nobody expected us to come down here and put on the displays that we've been putting on. Kendall (Frank) guards the best player on the floor every single time. I thought he did a great job on Cully (Payne).
"But, again, big-time players make big-time plays down the stretch."
The Tigers turned around to face Curie in the tournament's third-place game later Wednesday night.
"That's the great thing," DiForti said. "Our biggest game right now of the season is this next game against Curie. There is no time to hang our heads because nobody expected us to come here and do what we did. I don't even know if our players did.
"But I think we finally proved to a lot of people and proved to ourselves that we can compete with a lot of teams."
