Griffin Somlock, Sandwich shake off Woodstock in OT

WOODSTOCK – Sandwich junior guard Griffin Somlock doesn’t necessarily consider himself the biggest “Swiftie.”

And what can only be described as a music malfunction during a critical moment in Tuesday night’s Kishwaukee River Conference battle probably won’t give Somlock the urge to listen to a Taylor Swift song anytime soon.

“I wanted the Eagles to win the Super Bowl, so it worked out,” a smiling Somlock said after he and his teammates staged a late fourth-quarter comeback to force overtime, before beating Woodstock 47-46.

Sunday’s Super Bowl turned out to be a blowout, with the Eagles beating the Chiefs and Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Tuesday’s high school basketball game looked like the outcome would be decisive too after Woodstock sophomore Max Beard split two free throws with 3:05 left in the fourth quarter to put the hosts up 36-27.

“We never quit, even our bench guys,” Somlock said. “We just kept it going. In practice we work hard, especially at end-of-game situations. We like closing games out a lot.”

Sure enough, Sandwich (17-11, 10-2 KRC) forced overtime and won the game on the second of two free throws by Somlock, who missed the first while Swift’s “Shake it Off,” much to the chagrin of Sandwich, blared over the speaker. The win allowed the Indians to retain sole possession of first place with two conference games left. Sandwich leads Johnsburg (9-3), a 58-52 winner over Plano on Tuesday, by one game.

Woodstock (17-11, 8-4), which led Sandwich most of the night, could have forged a tie for first place with a win. Woodstock hosts Johnsburg on Friday, while Sandwich hosts Woodstock North.

“Pretty rough,” said Beard, who scored 10 of his 15 points after halftime. “I went in the locker room [after the game], and it was fine. Our mind is now on beating Johnsburg and competing for a regional [championship]. That’s our whole mindset. On to the next one.”

“On the next one” was also Somlock’s mindset after he missed a free throw with 0.7 seconds left in OT and the score tied 46-all. As Swift’s “Shake it Off” played, the referee handed the ball to Somlock, who shot and rattled the ball in and out.

After the music stopped and Woodstock called timeout, Somlock rattled his second free throw, but this one went down. He had made his first four free throws in the game, before the miss.

“I had to regather myself,” Somlock said. “I talked it over with my teammates in the timeout, came out and had full confidence.”

Somlock, Simeion Harris and Braden Behringer (two 3-pointers) each had nine points for Sandwich. Senior captain Diego Gomez hit a left-corner 3-pointer with 1:37 left to pull the Indians within 38-36, and his two free throws with 50.7 seconds to go gave his team its first lead at 40-38.

Gomez broke both of his thumbs during football season and missed the first month of the season.

“Unbelievably proud of him,” Sandwich coach Matt Chalfin said. “He never put his head down. He just kept working and working, and I’m so happy that he got to have that moment tonight.”

Dom Rome’s basket on a post-up move with 2:47 left got Sandwich within 36-29 and started a 13-2 run. The Indians pressured full court, and it was effective.

“We ramped it up defensively,” Chalfin said. “We knew we had to speed them up because they weren’t going to turn the ball over in the half court. They’re too disciplined. They’re too smart. We don’t full-court [press] really at all.”

Beard scored in the post to pull Woodstock even at 40-all with 38 seconds left. His turnaround 10-footer on the baseline to win it at the buzzer rimmed out.

Collin Greenlee sank five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points for Woodstock, which also got nine points and seven rebounds from Joey Nitz.

Woodstock had only itself to blame for its failure to protect its nine-point lead down the stretch. The Blue Streaks missed five free throws in eight attempts in the final 3:05 of regulation, then shot 1 of 4 from the line in OT.

“I don’t think we thought it was over, but I thought we lost our focus defensively a little bit,” Woodstock coach Ryan Starnes said. “We didn’t guard them as well the last few minutes of the game, and all game [before that] we guarded them really well. We got in foul trouble and missed a bunch of free throws, so you couple all of those things together and that’s why you lose a one-point game in overtime.”