Nazareth loses regional final in overtime

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This time, the Nazareth boys basketball team had its regional upset bid fall short in overtime.

The Roadrunners, the No. 10 seed in the Riverside-Brookfield Sectional, fell to No. 3 Crane 51-44 in OT in the Class 3A Nazareth Regional championship game in LaGrange Park. Nazareth (15-12) ended its first winning season since 1991.

The Roadrunners were coming off a 55-51 win over No. 6 Riverside-Brookfield Wednesday in the regional semifinals.

Tied 37-37 after regulation, the turning point Friday came when Crane¹s Aaron Weaver (game-high 21 points, 4 three-pointers, 6 rebounds) got a steal and scored on a layup and was ruled to be intentionally fouled from behind on the play. Weaver sank both free throws, then the Cougars were awarded possession that led to two more free throws for a 43-37 lead with 3:22 left. The Roadrunners could only get as close as three points twice after that.

Charlie Herr¹s three-pointer put Nazareth within 47-44 with 1:04. Nazareth missed two tying three-pointers following steals by Curtis Cannon and Dominic Rocco before Crane (16-7) sealed the win by making 4 of 6 free throws in the final 41.6 seconds.

Mike Garabedian¹s three-pointer with 41 seconds left in regulation tied the game, and the Roadrunners forced Weaver into a wild shot at the buzzer to send it into OT.

Garabedian scored 15 points with four three-pointers and seven rebounds to lead the Roadrunners, who shot 28 percent from the field (13 of 47 with 8 three-pointers) and made 10 of 19 free throws. Crane made 16 of 42 shots from the field and 12 of 17 free throws.

Pat Reardon (8 points, 3 rebounds), Jake Fuller (6 points, 4 rebounds) and Rocco and Herr (5 points apiece) also led the Roadrunners, who won their last regional title in 1991.