Skyhawks cool, clutch

Johnsburg's Mike Dombrowski (right) celebrates the Skyhawks' victory against Lakes with teammate Austin Vanderstappen on Friday night in Johnsburg. The Skyhawks won the IHSA Class 3A regional title game, 60-58. (Catalin Abagiu – cabagiu@nwherald.com)

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JOHNSBURG – When Johnsburg needed to keep its composure in a tight fourth quarter against Lakes in the IHSA Class 3A Johnsburg Regional final Friday, not a single player hid from the late-game pressure.

A barrage of threes by Lakes in the final minute didn’t faze the Skyhawks, as Johnsburg calmly hit 17 of 22 fourth-quarter free throws to defeat the Eagles, 60-58, and win the regional championship.

Johnsburg (26-2) plays Chicago Gordon Tech in a Vernon Hills Sectional semifinal at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

All five Johnsburg starters scored in double digits, and the Skyhawks missed only four shots (6 of 10) in the second half.

“I have to give a lot of credit to Lakes for what they did at the end, but I just thought we brought a lot of composure when we needed it most,” Skyhawks senior guard Mike Dixon said.

Dixon scored 10 points and hit seven of eight free throws in the final quarter.

“Everyone stepped up and gave huge contributions at critical times, and I couldn’t be any prouder of my teammates than I am tonight,” he said.

With the Skyhawks leading, 53-44, the Eagles (14-18) hit four three-pointers in the final 1:20 and forced the Skyhawks to beat them at the free-throw line.

Johnsburg converted 9 of 12 free throws down the stretch to hold off Lakes, which scored its last basket on a putback off a missed three as time expired.

Senior forward Tyler Chambers (14 points) hit two critical threes just before Lakes started its run, and center C.J. Fiedorowicz (11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds) made all four of his free throw attempts in the fourth quarter.

Junior guard Mike Dombrowski scored 5 of his 11 points in the final quarter, all on free throws.

“We were confident making our free throws, but when [Lakes] kept hitting three after three, some from NBA range, I was getting a little worried,” Dombrowski said.

“We stayed calm and we knew what we had to do to win the game. This will give us tremendous confidence going forward in the playoffs, knowing any one of us can rise to the occasion.”

Johnsburg started slow, missing its first three shots, and the Skyhawks trailed by five points twice in the first half.

After Derek Talbot hit a three-pointer with 5:45 left in the first half, Dombrowski scored six consecutive points for Johnsburg to push the lead to four. Talbot closed out the half with two free throws.

The Skyhawks ended the first half on a 10-5 run to lead, 23-20, going into the break.

“[Lakes] played good defense, but at the same time, we didn’t execute offensively,” Skyhawks coach Luke Ravlin said. “C.J. got a few good looks early on, but then we kind of stopped going to him and started rushing our shots.

“Credit Lakes for making us do that, but I felt if we had executed a little bit more early on, we wouldn’t have been in that tight situation at the end of the game.”

Lakes was led by senior forward John Androus’ game-high 27 points on 10 of 14 shooting, and guard Tanner Blain added 10.