Boys Basketball: Maine South’s Solari caps huge night against Niles North with game-winner

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Updated: February 22, 2012 12:14PM

Maine South’s John Solari scored a season-high 29 points on Tuesday, but in the fourth quarter visiting Niles North held him to a single basket.

A game-winning basket.

With the Central Suburban crossover game tied, Matt Lahey’s lob found Solari’s hands and the junior buried the shot in close to give the Hawks a 55-53 lead with 1.7 seconds left to play.

“Louis (Tsichlis) put the screen on the guy defending me,” Solaris said. “Lahey threw a great pass and I just had an open lane to the basket.”

Solaris scored 15 of his points in a second quarter that saw Maine South build a 35-27 halftime lead on the Vikings.

“My teammates just gave me good screens all night and our point guards were looking for me,” Solaris said. “I knew I’d have a little bit of a height advantage, which I usually don’t get, so I tried to use my strength down there.”

Niles North (15-6) used an 18-10 scoring edge in the third quarter to pull even by quarter’s end, with Mychael Henley and Malachi Nix scoring five points apiece. Henley led Niles North with 19 points, Nix finished with 11 and Taffari Beckford netted 10 points.

A Henley free throw tied the game but Maine South (14-10) found the game’s final possession and made it count, winning for the sixth time in its last seven games.

“We’ve grown up a lot and we’ve been executing good lately,” Solaris said. “It’s good to finally execute in one of those close games when every possession counts.”

Danny Quinn had six rebounds while Solaris and Frank Dounis pulled down five apiece. Lahey contributed eight assists and Nick Calabrese finished with six for the Hawks.

“We’re really excited with how we executed down the stretch,” Maine South coach Tony Lavorato said. “I liked the little things I saw; Frank Dounis gets an important put-back in the fourth quarter, we’re contesting shots very well, and those are the little things you have to do.”

Niles North coach Glenn Olson chalked Tuesday’s game as a learning experience for his junior-heavy squad.

“Our defense was very poor tonight, especially in the first half,” Olson said. “We fought back in the third quarter but I hope they learned that the effort has to be there for the entire game.”