Boehm helps Trevians size up win over Maine East

The Maine East  boys basketball team held down 6-foot-9 New Trier senior Fred Heldring for most of the game Tuesday, but it was the other player in the paint who took over the game.

New Trier sophomore Connor Boehm scored a game-high 17 points as the Trevians battled their way to a 56-37 victory over Maine East (5-21) in a Central Suburban League crossover game in Park Ridge to close out the regular season.

New Trier (20-4) jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game but looked sluggish for the rest of the half as Maine East charged back to go into halftime behind just 26-20.

“We knew we didn’t play our best in the first half,” Boehm said. “Even though this game didn’t have that much meaning, we knew we had to play better. Starting back with Loyola, we have been playing some good basketball. So hopefully, come Tuesday (for playoffs), we can carry this momentum into that game.”

As the third quarter started, the momentum swung back to New Trier as it played well on both ends of the court. Alex Rossi netted seven points in the period as the Trevians forced turnovers on Maine East’s first four possessions of the second half. That sparked a 16-0 Trevians' run as New Trier did not allow a Blue Demons basket until sophomore Aaron Shannon canned one off the glass with 1 minute, 28 seconds left in the period. 

New Trier shot 75 percent (9 of 12) from the field in the third quarter and outscored Maine East 21-5 to take a commanding 47-25 advantage into the fourth.

“I’m glad we won this game so we can keep it rolling into the playoffs,” New Trier senior John Hurley said.  “We definitely started off slow. I don’t know what it was. We got yelled at in the locker room, so that may have got us going in the second half.”

“At halftime, I said we have to go and get after it with better guarding,” New Trier coach Scott Fricke said.  “Every night it’s different for our kids, but our team always tries to come out playing. After we got up early in the first, I think our kids got lazy and thought we could go on cruise control for the rest of the game  Our defense came up big in the second half.”

New Trier shot 51 percent (24 for 47) for the game and did a good job of moving the ball around to different players. Also leading the Trevians were Heldring with 12 points, Hurley with 10 and Rossi with seven.

It was Senior Night at Maine East and senior star Nusrath Khan did not disappoint. He led the Blue Demons with 16 points. Khan tried valiantly to keep his team in the game and netted nine second-half points, but New Trier's height advantage was just too much for Khan and the Blue Demons to overcome.

Other top scorers for Maine East were senior Michael Szczapa (7) and Shannon (6), while junior Willy Gandy and senior Zeeshan Rauf each scored  four. The Blue Demons, who had two players dismissed from the team last week, hit 7 of 8 free throws.

With another victory, New Trier will enter the playoffs a confident bunch.

“I think our kids are looking forward to the state tournament,” Fricke said. “This game was important to us because it’s our 20th win of the season. When you win 20 out of 24, it’s a big accomplishment.  I thought in the second half we started to look more like ourselves."