Stangs fall to Zion-Benton for 3rd time By:Brian Burkhart Libertyville - I have one word to describe this game and that is..Amazing! The heart of both these teams shined bright tonight in the sold-out Libertyville Wildcats gym, it was a true David vs. Goliath battle on the court. From the opening tip off this game had a very fast pace, with Mundelein pushing the ball fast up court with every possession and Zion matching there intensity with on every play. The first quarter was closely matched with Zion taking a 25-21 lead at the end of the period, and Ronald Stewart lead the way with 9 points. At halftime the game was still close with the Mustangs only down by 4 because of a great floater in the lane by Andy Rochon followed by a 3 pointer right before half. The Mustangs were only down at half 44-40 to Zion with Ronald Stewart leading the team with 12 pts. followed closely by Andy Rochon with 17 points for the Mustangs. In the 2nd half Mundelein put on a little full court pressure to rattle the Zee Bees but that proved somewhat ineffective because they had an absolute field day in the post with Markus Yarbrough coming up huge with a 20 point game. Mundelein star Navjot Singh tried his best to stop the big beast in the post but the Mustangs were just out matched in size at the lower positions. The Mustangs came out firing to start the 3rd period and cut the lead down until Zion decided to feed Markus Yarbrough in the post again. He looked seeming unstoppable and was getting every call from the officials. To end the 3rd period the Mustangs went on a 5-0 run lead by point guard Andy Rochon, to within 5 points at the start of the final period (Zion 62, Mundelein 57). In the final period the building was electric, you could feel something special was seemingly about to happen. The game went back and forth to start the 4th period until Zion pulled away, with a 3 point play which put them up by 10 pts. But Coach Knar wasn't about to let his seniors go out like that, so he got them refocused and back into the game with tough defense. This surely fired up the Mustangs because momentum swayed to their side when Lenzelle Smith fouled out of the game with 5:25 left in the clock, now it seemed time for them to take charge and they surely did. The Mustangs fought back to get within 1 point with 27.6 sec left on the clock, and Zion leading 75 to 74. But a 3 pointer by Navjot Singh that could have gave them the lead bounced off the rim and the Mustangs had to foul Rodney Clinkscales of Zion to stop the clock and he made both of his free throws to seal the win by the Zee Bees. The final score was Zion 79 and Mundelein 74, but these two teams deserve more than just a pat on the back because they put their hearts on the line for this game and it turned out to be one of the greatest sports spectacles I have seen in awhile.
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