Krozel’s last-second layup propels Rebels

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Ridgewood's Vijay Machavarapu drives against Fenwick's Thomas Planek, during a Jan. 7 contest. | Stacia Timonere~for Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 20, 2012 8:20AM

A pregame pep talk was just the wake-up call Ridgewood junior Adam Krozel needed. His layup as time expired in overtime gave the host Rebels a 56-54 victory over conference rival Glenbard South Friday night in Norridge.

The 6-foot-2 forward also drained two key free throws in the OT after a huge rebound on a missed shot to put his team in the lead 52-50 with 2 minutes, 50 seconds left. Senior Vijay Machavarapu also showed he has ice in his veins when he scored his only two points moments later from the charity stripe to put the Rebels (10-5, 4-0 Metro Suburban Conference) back on top after the Raiders (8-6, 4-2) had tied the game again.

“Coach told me in warmups that I looked a little sluggish in warmups, and then in the locker room he drew up a play and asked me about it and I wasn’t really paying attention. I didn’t know what to say and he called me on it and he told me I had to wake up. From that point I got a little spark in me to score some points and be instrumental in getting us off to a good start,” Krozel said.

Krozel’s first-ever buzzer beater came moments after Glenbard South senior Carl Lane (10 points) drilled a jump shot from the paint with 18 seconds to play to knot the score at 54-54. Krozel, who finished the game with 15 points (5-of-8 from the foul line) and 10 rebounds, described what happened next from his vantage point.

“I was expecting Andy (Mazurczak, 21 points, 7 rebounds), to take it himself since he’s our best player,” he said. “Then I saw the ball go toward Vijay because he was open underneath, but the pass was deflected and the ball bounced right to me. I knew I had to shoot fast because there wasn’t much time, so I put it up and it went in.”

Ridgewood coach Chris Mroz said he was relieved to come out on top in the hard-fought battle.

“A typical grind-it-out conference game, and luckily we came out with the ‘W’,” Mroz said. “We were sloppy at times, but when we got the ball up and down the court fast, we were pretty good. We struggled with our scoring in the half-court game and didn’t make a lot of shots we usually do tonight. But a lot of that had to do with Glenbard’s defense.”

Ridgewood played some tough defense of its own, especially in the first half when it led 18-9 after the first quarter and 30-23 at halftime. Glenbard South started to make its move early in the third quarter, going on 7-0 run with the Rebels hitting just one of their first eight shots in the period.

“We try to get up and guard guys tight, but unfortunately we kind of let down in the third quarter a little bit but came back stronger in the fourth and in overtime when we got some big stops,” Mroz said. “Our defense is very important to our success. You’re not always going to be able to make your shots, but you can always play defense, and we stress that a lot.”

The Raiders kept things close after they trailed just 42-39 to start the final quarter behind the hot shooting of lefty senior guard Jon Berropsi, who scored 12 of his 16 points after the break, including a string of three straight in the fourth period that helped Glenbard South take a 48-47 advantage with two minutes left to play.

But Krozel hit 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game 50-50 at the 1:10 mark that would send the game into overtime. Ridgewood senior Pete Mroz (13 points, 6-of-6 from the line), who didn’t sink a field goal in the first half, connected on a pair of big buckets in the fourth quarter to keep the Rebels alive in the nip-and-tuck contest. Younger brother Anthony Mroz (both are brothers of the head coach) didn’t score a single point but contributed three big steals in the fourth quarter to revive the defense.

The Raiders were led in scoring by Berropsi, while senior Dusko Despot pitched in 11 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Senior Dominique Cisneros-Watson came off the bench and hit for seven points.