Posted Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006, The OG, sports

[Note: This story is an updated version of an article originally posted Wednesday night. It contains revised scoring figures and additional background information. For more about this game and the 2005-06 Illineks, see David Boyle's Feb. 23 entry in the Gargoyle staff blog.]

One of the finest seasons in Uni basketball history ended Wednesday night with a 75-69 loss to Armstrong-Potomac in the Class A regional semifinals. Senor Al Renner, Uni's career scoring leader, paced the Illineks with 21 points.

The loss stopped the boys one game short of playing for a regional title and ended a 16-game winning streak. The Illineks finished the year with a 22-6 record, third best in school history behind the 1943-44 team's 24-4 mark and last year's 23-5 record.

It was the second year in a row that Uni lost a regional semifinal showdown with a team that enjoyed the homecourt advantage. Last year, the Illineks lost a 62-60 heartbreaker to host Blue Ridge.

Although they didn't achieve their goal of winning the school's first-ever regional championship, the nine players who make up the Illineks' Class of 2006 can take pride in setting several Uni records for victories. No class has ever been part of more wins over a two-year span than this group: 45-11, compared to 44-11 for the 1943-44 and 1944-45 squads. Nor has any class been part of more wins over three years: 60-20 compared to 59-18 for the three Uni teams from 1942-43 to 1944-45.

Wednesday night's outcome was determined in the course of about one minute in the third quarter.

Trailing 35-27 at halftime, the Illineks came out strong when action resumed, just as they had a week ago against the Unity Rockets.

Al Renner scored four points and senior Austin Berger two as Uni cut A-P's lead to 35-33 with 5:45 left in the quarter, much to the delight of the spirited Uni fans who made the trip to Armstrong.

But instead of buckling, the Trojans stuck to what they do best: shooting the three-pointer. In the next minute of action, A-P's marksmen landed three consecutive treys. The Trojan lead was back to double digits, 44-34, and Uni never seriously threatened again.

The Trojans made 12 treys on the night, with Justin Cessna hitting five, while Uni netted seven three-pointers. In the fourth quarter, A-P capitalized on 14 of 18 free-throw attempts as coach Joel Beesley and his Illineks refused to concede anything, battling over every possession until time ran out.

Besides Al Renner's 21 points, sophomore Mike Renner contributed 16, Berger 15, senior Zhe Gao 10, and senior Ben Sims seven.

Mike Renner led Uni with four treys, followed by Al Renner with two and Gao with one. Gao advanced in the IHSA's three-point showdown competition.

— Gargoyle staff