Boys Basketball: Leyden hang tough, rallies past Morton

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Updated: February 22, 2012 12:14PM

Leyden blew a 21-point third-quarter lead, then came back from a 3-point deficit in the final 2 minutes, 27 seconds of the game to post a 76-66 West Suburban Gold win Friday night at Morton.

Senior Patrick Listwan (team-best 19 points) was the key for the Eagles throughout, including a heads-up play on a missed free throw that got Leyden (13-7, 5-4) back even at 62-62 with 2:27 left in the game after Morton (9-9, 4-4) had rallied from a 52-31 deficit with 3:34 to go in the third quarter to take the lead.

At the foul line for a one-and-one after a rebound basket by sophomore Greg Carter (17 points) had given the Mustangs their biggest lead of the game at 62-59, Listwan missed his first attempt, but grabbed the rebound when everyone else along the lane froze, thinking he had another free throw coming. Listwan put the rebound in, was fouled again and converted the game-tying three-point play.

“Patrick really played well for us and did a lot of things, but that play on the missed free throw was just so huge at the time,” Leyden coach Bill Heisler said. “It was nice to see him play so well against a good team. He’s getting more confident, and he’s more comfortable now when he looks to score.”

Listwan said he wasn’t certain what the situation was when he missed the front end of the one-and-one that turned into a three-point play for him.

“I wasn’t sure if I had another shot or not when I saw nobody move, but I figured I would grab the ball and shoot it. The worst thing that could have happened is that I would have had another free throw, instead.”

Listwan’s game-tying three-point play seemed to light a late fire under Leyden, which outscored Morton 14-4 from that point. The Eagles opened a 72-66 lead by making eight consecutive free throws and were 12-for-16 from the line in the final 1:19 of the game.

“We probably played our best basketball of the season in the first half,” Heisler said. “I knew Morton would make a run in the second half, but I didn’t think it would be to take the lead after we built a 21-point lead. I have to give them a lot of credit for their resilience, and I have to give our kids credit for being resilient, too. It would have been very easy for us to quit after giving up a 21-point lead.”

Leyden led, 20-16, after one quarter, and held a 40-28 halftime advantage, despite leading scorer Alex Herrera not contributing a point in the opening half. The senior guard did finish with 10 points, including eight free throws in the final 1:19 of the game. Jonny Woolf (15 points), Omar Lozoya (13) and Sammy Moya (13) also scored in double figures for the Eagles.

“That’s what happens when we have everyone scoring,” Heisler said. “Alex didn’t have one of his better games, but we had other guys step up on the offensive end. If we can do that when Alex is having one of his normal games, we’re going to be pretty tough.”

Morton Junior Waller Perez led all scorers with 30 points. Carter scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half for the Mustangs.