KIRKPATRICK’S 3 AT BUZZER WINS IT
As New Trier students stormed the court, sophomore Christopher Kirkpatrick, in the midst of getting swept away by the crowd, looked over at Glenbrook North’s student section and put his finger to his lips in the well-known “shush” gesture.
“Yeah, I heard them chanting [overrated],” Kirkpatrick said. “It was just fuel for the fire. I take it as a compliment.”
Kirkpatrick’s three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Trevians a 46-43 win against Glenbrook North in the Class 4A Maine South Sectional final.
Kirkpatrick’s shot came on a high-risk, high-difficulty inbounds play. Logan Feller passed the width of the court to Will Leemaster in the corner, who all in one motion managed to leap in the air and catch the pass and get it to Kirkpatrick.
“I was in the air, and I don’t know how I caught that ball,” Leemaster said. “They put the trust in me to catch it. We’re not winning without [Kirkpatrick] making the shot. None of it matters if it doesn’t go in. He’s such a great player, and he’s only a sophomore.”
New Trier practiced the gamewinning inbounds play all season and was saving it for a special moment.
Kirkpatrick scored the last 10 points for the Trevians (28-7), matching Glenbrook North All-Area selection Josh Fridman shot for shot down the stretch.
“[Fridman] is one of the best point guards in the state,” Kirkpatrick said. “We were just going back and forth. He started talking to me, saying I got lucky on a couple. So that just fueled me.”
Kirkpatrick scored 16 points and Feller had 10 points and nine rebounds for New Trier.
Both teams struggled to score in a rough first half that ended 14-12. Glenbrook North big man Patrick Schaller, a Northwestern football recruit, scored 13 of his 15 points in the third quarter as the Spartans built a six-point lead.
New Trier tied the score on a three-point play by Fitzpatrick with 4:40 left.
The Spartans (25-8) took 1:11 off the clock on their last possession, hoping for the last shot. But they turned the ball over with eight seconds to play, setting the stage for Kirkpatrick’s heroics.
“[Coach Scott Fricke] told us it was going to be a life-or-death-type scenario at the end,” Leemaster said. “It was always going to be hard and always going to come down to that last possession.”
Fridman had 13 points and Sam Lappin added 10 for Glenbrook North.
New Trier was one of the best teams in the area for most of the season before hitting a speed bump late in the season, losing to West Aurora, Evanston and Glenbrook South.
“We all kind of got a little big-headed,” Leemaster said. “We thought we were better than teams, and we weren’t doing the small things. That’s what we did tonight. We got back to what we should be doing.”
New Trier will face Glenbard North in the NOW Arena Supersectional on Monday.
The Panthers also won on a three-pointer at the buzzer on Friday, beating York 44-43 on Jack Schager’s clutch shot.