Trevs hang tough but its not enough versus Vikings, will play again in third-place game.

New Trier will shoot its shot in the third-place IHSA 4A game for the second straight year following a heartbreaking 40-35 defeat to high-flying Homewood-Flossmoor on Friday evening.

The Trevians and Vikings went back and forth for the majority of the semifinal clash before H-F grabbed a fourth-quarter advantage and sealed the victory at the free-throw line.

“If you’re going to beat us, you’re going to have to tear our heart out. And that’s what Homewood-Flossmoor had to do tonight,” New Trier coach Scott Fricke said.

The Trevians carried a 26-23 lead into the fourth quarter, but H-F star Bryce Heard swung the game in his team’s favor with two big shots — one a three-pointer.

Heard did most of the damage for the Vikings, scoring 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

New Trier hung in, but long possessions by both teams limited opportunities for the Trevians to grab the lead back.

Ian Brown sank a three-pointer and Danny Houlihan hit two more to keep New Trier within striking distance.

H-F sank its free throws, however, converting 10 of 12 in the fourth quarter to make it difficult on the Trevs.

In maybe the biggest play of the night, Gianni Cobb also had a steal and score plus a foul to give H-F a six-point advantage late in the fourth.

Still, New Trier had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but an off-balance three-point attempt was off-target with 4 seconds to play.

Chris Kirkpatrick led New Trier with 13 points, nine of which came in the first half. Logan Feller finished with 9 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Feller scored 7 points in the third quarter, helping his team take a lead into the final quarter.

Will Leemaster had 5 rebounds and dished out a game-high 7 assists, most of them occurring when Leemaster found his back-cutting teammates.

“I think he’s the best in the state at throwing those passes,” Feller said of Leemaster. “I don’t think we are the team we are without him.”

The Vikings came into the final four as the favorite after topping previously top-ranked Curie in the supersectional round.

New Trier held H-F to just four points in the first quarter and 11 in the half. Each of the first two quarters ended in low-scoring ties: 4-4 and 11-11.

Fricke said that is the type of game he hoped to play.

“I’m so proud of our guys. I thought we dictated tempo in the game. We played the game exactly how we wanted,” he said. “I’m a little disappointed. Their good players hit a couple big shots and we just couldn’t get over the edge, but our kids fought hard until the end.”

New Trier will look to quickly regroup for a third-place tilt with Palatine, which lost to Normal Community, starting around 8:30 p.m. Friday night.

“Last year, the big theme in the locker room, coach told us only two teams get to win their last game,” Trevians senior Ian Brown said. “Our goal is to go out there and win our last game, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

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