LAKE FOREST, Ill. — On a team that sees a lot of its biggest contributions come from juniors and underclassmen, it was a senior who stole the spotlight on Tuesday night.

Stephen Young, one of three senior captains on the team, buried a fadeaway hook shot at the buzzer to stun the Warren Blue Devils, 53-51.

“When I threw it up I knew it was on-line,” said Young. “I was thinking how crazy it would be if it would go in and sure enough it went in and then pretty much everything else went blank for the next fifteen minutes or so,” he said with a chuckle.

The shot by Young concluded one of the wackiest games of the season for the Scouts, as the Scouts won a back-and-forth offensive slugfest that was initially seen as a game that the Scouts would possibly win by around 10 to 15 points as they did in the first match back on December 20.

But Warren came out swinging offensively, scoring a huge percentage of their points down low. Senior Juan DelaCruz was the big piece behind Warren’s success down low, scoring a game-high 18 points for the Devils.

“We just didn’t do a great job guarding their big guys down low,” said Young. “I take responsibility for that one. I should’ve down a better job guarding them.”

However, the Scouts offense was also coming out hot in the early going. The team dropped a season-high 18 points in the first quarter behind 4 of 7 shooting from three and 8 quick points from an unlikely source in sophomore Leo Scheidler. 

Scheidler, Young, seniors Grant Kaus and Andy Brown, and juniors Will Thomas and Jack Malloy picked up some big baskets for the Scouts down the stretch of the ballgame on nights where usual offensive stalwarts Asa Thomas and Cade Nowik struggled with consistency shooting the basketball.

However, Warren continued to keep the game close, as they led by one point with seconds remaining. With eleven seconds left, Malloy was fouled and went to the line to shoot a pair of free throws. After Malloy hit the first shot, he missed the second, but as he has so many times this season, Nowik got a huge offensive rebound to keep possession with the Scouts.

“That was a huge rebound by Cade,” said Young. “He always makes the big play when we need it and if he had not done that right there, they get the ball back with plenty of time to go for the win.”

After a Scouts timeout, they came out of the huddle with 11 seconds remaining, but Warren committed a foul on Nowik with 1.5 seconds remaining forcing an inbound pass that would force the Scouts to either go for a quick catch-and-shoot or a lob to the rim.

With Kaus inbounding the ball, he threw into the paint, but it got tipped by a Warren defender into the hands of Young, who just threw up the prayer of all prayers that somehow found the cup giving the Scouts the weirdest win in basketball history.

“The play was initially intended for [Jack] Malloy,” said Kaus. “But it got tipped right to Steve and the rest was pretty much history.”

VIDEO: LIVE CALL of Stephen Young's impossible buzzer-beater to give @LFHoops a 53-51 win! @LFHS_Scouts @TheLFLeader @TheForestScout @Unl_CoJMC @LFScoutNation pic.twitter.com/SALU1ohY3l

— Connor Clark (@C_Clark_27) February 12, 2020

“This was a huge win strictly because it keeps us over .500 in the conference, gets us into third place again, and keeps on this nice run we’ve been on,” he added.

The victory for the Scouts improves their overall record to 15-10 on the season. They are now 6-4 in the NSC and hold sole possession of third place over rival Libertyville and Zion-Benton. They will return to the hardwood on Friday at Waukegan and then return home next Tuesday to battle the Zee-Bees.

QUICK FACTS:

Scouts Record: 15-10, 6-4

Next Game: Friday, February 14, 2020, at Waukegan – 7:00 pm at Waukegan High School