There were times we cut the lead to single digits and then I'd look up and they'd be up by 16 again. We missed a lot of shots, but we also didn't play good defense. To give up 70 points twice in a row is ridiculous.

In the stretch where they got back in it — and you have to give Lincoln-Way Central credit for doing that — we started shooting the three without investigating the inside. But for the most part, I thought we shared the responsibility offensively, and that was a key.

A win is a win. We'll take them any way we can.

This is obviously a huge win for us. It gives us a chance in the conference. This makes us 4-2 in the league heading to Joliet Township Friday. I'm really happy with the way we came out and competed.

Mike has been playing better but he hasn't always been a great free throw shooter. Those were big foul shots he knocked in with the pressure on.

That just shows how far he has come as a player. He may have missed all his shots, but he wasn't afraid to take one under pressure, either. He's developed as an overall player, too, realizing that when a team is focusing on him like Sandburg was, that he can contribute in other ways.

Free throws are one of those fundamental things we did not do well. We're basically all juniors and a sophomore, and we're learning. Every day is a learning experience. We don't like losing while we're learning, but tonight they just beat us start to finish.

We wanted to make Sandburg work for everything. Sandburg is good when they are allowed to set up something. We wanted to keep Sandburg from establishing a comfort zone. We figured some pressure would keep Sandburg on the run and prevent that comfort zone.

This is an emotional game. We looked like we controlled our emotions, but we did not execute. If you play off emotion only, sooner or later that is going to run out.