MSL Basketball: Tiebreakers and the Bizarre Finish to the 2001-02 East Division Boys Basketball Race

Elk Grove-Hersey Battle to Make MSL Title Game Defied All Conventional Wisdom; Barrington-Palatine Could Face Similar Scenario for West Crown on Friday Night

The two 3-pointers Palatine’s Tommy Elter hit in the final 2.5 seconds of a 45-43 loss at Barrington in early December would be regarded as inconsequential in the vast majority of basketball games.

That’s not the case in Mid-Suburban League basketball where tiebreakers are used to determine which division winners advance to the championship game. That’s why those 3s and two others by Connor May and Darrin Dick in the final 70 seconds did more than just make the final margin look better from the Pirates’ perspective.

Finishing the game on a 12-1 tear in the MSL West opener could have a meaningful bearing on Friday night’s division finale where Barrington (18-4, 8-1) visits Palatine (20-8, 7-2). The Broncos clinched a share of the division title last Friday and can make any tiebreaker scenarios moot with a victory.

The Pirates were knocked into second place with a 53-50 loss at Fremd on Friday. However, if they win by at least 2 points on Friday night, they would hold the tiebreakers to advance to MSL title game on Feb. 7. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head results, the second is point differential up to 10 points in head-to-head meetings and the third is wins by 10 or more points in division games. Palatine has six wins under the third tiebreaker criteria to two for Barrington.

These MSL tiebreaker scenarios resulted in one of the weirdest games I’ve seen when Hersey and Elk Grove met in the 2002 MSL East finale. Elk Grove was in control with a 7-2 record in the division and Hersey was part of a three-way tie for second at 6-3 that included Buffalo Grove and Prospect. BG and Prospect were also playing each other but neither of them had a path to the MSL title game through the tiebreaker scenarios.

Image credit Newspaperarchive.com

Elk Grove had clinched at least a share of its first MSL division title since it won the South in 1979 and it had beaten Hersey 64-53 in the first meeting. Hersey had to win by 7 or more points - under the tiebreaker criteria at that time - to reach the MSL title game.

And after employing strategies usually saved for desperate last-second deficits, followed by some frantic attempts to score, Hersey came away with a 71-66 victory but came up short of the ultimate prize in only the second three-way tie for an MSL division title in boys basketball with Elk Grove and BG.

In another somewhat bizarre scene, no one from Hersey or Elk Grove was in much of a championship mood either as the Grenadiers’ students rushed the floor to celebrate their trip to the MSL title game.

“I looked at the seniors and they were disappointed about not finishing and not playing as well as they could,” said Elk Grove coach Steve Messer, who was in his fourth year in charge of the program and played on Hersey’s 1985 Elite Eight team. “You saw the looks on their faces.”

Mike Madden, a Daily Herald All-Area guard, was in disagreeable agreement.

“I’m very upset that we lost,” he said. “There was nothing to be happy about, really.”

It was also a weird way for Hersey coach Don Rowley to pick up his 200th career victory as a varsity head coach. He had been in a similar situation in 1991 where Hersey held the title-game tiebreaker after losing in the North finale to Barrington.

“In 34 years I’ve been in all kinds of situations … but I’ve never been in anything like that,” Rowley said. “The bottom line is we are still East division champs. We won the game and we’re East division champs and nobody can take that away from us. 

“I think it’s a pretty good system. I don’t know what else we can do.”

The system is designed to prevent teams from running up scoring margins. Elk Grove saw its last lead of 42-40 wiped out by a 12-point run that gave Hersey the margin it needed with 7:06 left. Its last lead of at least 7 points was 66-58 with 38 seconds to play.

But Hersey got into a situation where it had to foul with the lead and Elk Grove got within 70-66 with 11 seconds to play on 2 free throws by Scott Scholten. Then the Huskies’ Jay Brizzolara was fouled with six seconds to play. Brizzolara made the first free throw to increase the margin to 5 points but intentionally missed the second.

Hersey got the rebound. And missed under heavy defensive pressure.

Hersey grabbed the rebound again. And missed again just off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

“I can’t think of a game where you have to try to win by seven,” Hersey senior Steve Prorok said after he had 23 points and 5 assists. “You win the game but you don’t get to go for the conference against Schaumburg. It was a good win, though.

“It was hard to watch at the end.”

The story did have a happy and celebratory ending for Elk Grove. A few days later it won its first MSL title by rallying from a 9-point second-half deficit to beat three-time defending MSL champion and reigning Class AA state champion Schaumburg 68-60.

“The best feeling in the world,” Madden said.

“The big thing that drove us after we lost the Hersey game is a lot of people didn’t think we deserved to be in this game,” senior teammate and Daily Herald All-Area pick Terry Evans said after scoring a game-high 24 points. “But we knew we deserved to be here. We came out to prove something. It’s amazing and I’m glad to be a part of it.”

Part of an amazing and bizarre path to Elk Grove’s only MSL title.

Here’s a look at some of the other wild tiebreaker endings since the MSL started division play in 1970-71:

Hersey Wins By Losing in ‘91

Hersey led the 1991 MSL North race at 8-1 by a game over Barrington going into their division finale in Arlington Heights. The Huskies won the first meeting 68-55 so Barrington had to win by at least 14 points.

The Broncos extended their lead to 12 midway through the fourth quarter and with 18 seconds left but their 63-53 victory wasn’t enough to keep Hersey from advancing to the MSL title game.

“It feels weird to lose a game and still win something,” Hersey’s Dimitrios Kouzoukas told the Herald’s Phil Brozynski.

“No way we’re down,” said Barrington’s Jason Armetta. “We wanted to come here and do a great job and I think we did. If anything, we have all the momentum now.”

Barrington would advance to the sectional final where it lost to Prospect. Hersey lost the MSL title game 72-60 to Rolling Meadows.

Prospect Charges Late to Claim Trifecta in ‘72

In the second year of division play in 1971-72, the MSL South finish saw Prospect in the worst position of the top three contenders at 6-3 and behind Conant and Forest View at 7-2. 

Conant had the tiebreaker criteria and faced Elk Grove while Prospect played at Forest View. But Conant was upset 79-78 on a Keith Chuipek free throw with seven seconds left and a free throw by Prospect’s Jack Brink with 1:18 to play was the final point in its 40-39 victory.

Of course, this was long before the technology available today to immediately know the outcomes of games elsewhere. The Herald’s Paul Logan wrote that Prospect fans rushed into the locker room shouting, “Elk Grove won! Elk Grove won!” Prospect coach Bill Slayton was skeptical and cautioned his team not to get too excited until they knew the result was official.

The Knights found out their good fortune was true by the time they returned to school. Slayton told Logan he received a congratulatory call on Saturday morning from Conant coach Dick Redlinger.

The tiebreaker twist was records against MSL North opponents favored Prospect (2-1) over Conant (1-1) and Forest View (1-2). Conant had drawn Rolling Meadows as an opponent but the result didn’t count because the school had just opened and was playing a JV schedule. But there was no controversy because Prospect held the next tiebreaker criteria of most in-division wins by at least 6 points.

Prospect lost the MSL title game 78-56 to Hersey with Dave Corzine and Andy Pancratz. Conant shook off the disappointment by becoming the first MSL boys basketball team to advance to the Sweet 16 where it lost in the supersectional to East Aurora.

Double Breakers in 2004-05

The 2023-24 season could be only the second time both division races end in ties if Palatine beats Barrington in the West. Rolling Meadows and Prospect are 8-1 in the East going into finales at Wheeling and Buffalo Grove respectively with the Mustangs holding the tiebreaker to advance to the title game.

The other time both division races ended in ties were in 2004-05 and in both cases were decided in season-ending head-to-head competition. In the East, Elk Grove had clinched a share at 6-3 and faced Rolling Meadows (5-4) in the final game. Buffalo Grove was also 5-4 but was out of tiebreaker contention to reach the MSL title game.

Elk Grove won the first meeting 48-44 so Meadows had to try to extend a late 2-point lead by fouling to stop the clock and get a steal. Tim Podulka hit a 3 to put the Grens ahead but Meadows got a technical knockout of sorts when Don King hit a turnaround baseline jumper at the buzzer for a 37-36 victory.

“We’re a little down about not winning the division (outright) but this is the best we’ve ever felt,” King said of the bittersweet feeling to the Herald’s Howard Schlossberg.

BG also won to finish in a three-way title tie at 6-4. For the second time in three years Elk Grove won the East’s championship game berth despite losing.

Who the Grenadiers would play was also up in the air as Palatine (7-2) traveled to Conant (6-3) in the West finale. Palatine won the first meeting 48-46 in overtime on Andre Rattray’s buzzer-beating jumper but Conant didn’t have to worry about any bitter point-differential drama as Fred Taylor had 25 points and 5 dunks in a 50-31 victory.

“It was basically sweet revenge,” Taylor said.

Conant beat Elk Grove 70-68 in overtime in one of the more exciting MSL title games in history. And the Cougars advanced to the sectional final where they had a fourth-quarter lead and two shots in close in the final seconds of a 1-point loss to eventual state champion Glenbrook North and Jon Scheyer.

Conant Takes Waiting Game in ‘80

Conant, Forest View and Hoffman Estates all entered the final Friday of MSL South play even at 8-3. Hoffman Estates knew it clinched at least a share of the title with a 60-58 overtime victory over Rolling Meadows but didn’t know who would join them atop the standings.

That’s because Conant’s game at Forest View was postponed by a power failure to Saturday night. The wait didn’t short-circuit the Cougars as they completed a season sweep of Forest View with a 72-68 victory and had the tiebreaker over Hoffman. The bigger concern for retiring coach Dick Redlinger was an ankle injury early in the game to Glenn Weeks, who scored 28 points as teammate Ron Schimbke added 21.

“When it happened I thought it was extremely serious,” Redlinger told the Herald’s Joel Parshall. “That kid really played hurt the whole second half.”

Weeks also scored 22 points in the final 20:23 as part of Conant’s late-season run to upset Buffalo Grove 71-66 in the MSL title game and reach the Sweet 16 for a second time under Redlinger.

Schaumburg Holds Cards in Full Houses in ‘09

Proximity and success that saw Schaumburg’s Bob Williams and Hoffman’s Bill Wandro combine for five Elite Eight trips to Peoria between 1996-2006 made most of their matchups must-see attractions. It was no different in 2008-09 going into the West finale at Schaumburg where the winner would go to the league title game.

Hoffman (7-2) led Schaumburg and Conant at 6-3 by a game but the Saxons won the first meeting at Hoffman 61-51 before 3,000. The news before another 3,000 came to Schaumburg for the rematch was the Saxons’ faint hopes of star guard Cully Payne returning from a back injury were officially extinguished.

But the Saxons completed a season-sweep of the Hawks 50-46 in fitting fashion as Chris Kelly, Blake Mueller and Declan Geraghty combined defensively to preserve a 2-point lead and set up Geraghty’s free throws to seal the victory. Conant also won to finish in a three-way tie at 7-3 but was out of title-game tiebreaker consideration.

“I thought both teams played with great character,” Williams said.

Prospect beat Schaumburg 61-57 for the MSL title.

Barrington Uses Advantage in ‘11 and ‘18

Barrington came into the 2011 and 2018 MSL West finales with the tiebreakers it needed to reach the league title game. All it had to do was win.

In 2011, Barrington, Conant and Fremd all finished division play with a win to end up 7-3. Barrington ended dry spells of 20 years between division titles and 32 since a title-game appearance - where it lost 56-44 to Prospect.

“It’s pretty special to end a 20-year drought on senior night,” said second-year Barrington coach Bryan Tucker after a clinching 61-27 win over Hoffman.

“At halftime we got that speech by coach where he told us to play together,” said Barrington’s Owen Prunskis. “Nobody will remember how many points they scored on senior night but they’ll remember we won the conference championship.”

In 2018, Barrington and Palatine won their MSL West finales to finish at 7-3. But Barrington had the point-differential edge in their regular-season split and advanced to the title game where it lost 54-44 to Prospect.