Photo Gallery: Lyons Boys Basketball Season in Review

What can you say about a team that consistently proved people wrong throughout the season?

The Lyons Township boys basketball team entered the 2010-2011 season with three goals in mind, outlined by head coach Tom Sloan: win the Thanksgiving tournament that starts the season on their home court, win the Jack Tosh Tournament at York, and win the West Suburban Conference.

The other driving factor for this team was to prove that they were better than a 30-point loss to Simeon Academy that ended their previous season at the sectional semifinals.

The team's comments in Billy Rohaly's highlighted that.

"After that game it gave us a hunger to prove ourselves and show that we can hang with some of the best teams in the state," senior guard Spencer Mahoney said. "We know we can play better than what we showed, so this is the year to prove it."

LT's starting five were tall. Nick Zeisloft, Spencer Mahoney, Nick Burt, Eric Powers and Henry Wilson were all taller than 6' 4". LT was using a four-guard lineup and had seven guys in heavy rotation all year. Dylan Fiedler and Mark Sewall provided quality minutes coming off the bench.

They blitzed through the Thanksgiving Tournament to start the season 3-0. They defeated Chicago Academy, Argo and Fenwick by large margins and were heading into a tough contest against rival Riverside-Brookfield.

A season can have multiple turning points, and a 24-point loss to the Bulldogs was one such point. It was the lowest point of their season as they completely fell apart during a second half surge by RB.

Resiliency proved to be the trademark of this team, and at several points throughout the season, when it would have been easy to pack it in, when giving up would have been the easy option, they would consistently fight back.

LT would rattle off five straight wins heading into the Jack Tosh Tournament, which is held after Christmas. The team was gelling at that point. En route to a finals appearance they defeated Conant, St. Ignatius and their star player Nnanna Egwu, and .

A rematch was set against Downers Grove South, a team they defeated by five points a week and a half earlier. The Mustangs of DGS were without their best player in that game, however, and were looking impressive in the tournament.

That game was a thriller throughout, one that LT ultimately lost in the final seconds of overtime on a transition layup that left a dazed Lions squad with little time left to heave up a desperation shot.

It was a game that tested their will. Nick Zeisloft, LT's star player who earlier this season, hit two huge clutch threes, one towards the end of regulation and one with 44 seconds left in overtime that put LT up.

They wouldn't lose again for almost three months.

In that span the team and their fans left me with some incredible memories. A packed Field House for their Feb. 15 Blackout Game against Hinsdale South gave a college atmosphere as more than 3,000 waved their black towels, jumped up and down on the rafters and chanted in unison "I believe that we will win."

They showed incredible resolve in the face of adversity and never was that more apparent than during a crazy four-game stretch at the end of the season that secured their perfect conference record.

Wins over Hinsdale South, Hinsdale Central, Proviso East and Proviso West all were highlighted by big runs at the end of those games to put LT over the top.

Over the course of the season they showed off their resolve, and after winning the regional championship rather handily, they showed it off again in their two sectionals games, which were played at Argo.

Nick Zeisloft, their best player, hit big shots throughout the course of the season. He was injured during practice and was ruled out for the first game against Curie.

Rather than make the excuse that they were without their star player, the team battled. An initial run by Curie had LT on their heels a bit, but their defense stepped it up and they on a last second layup by Nick Burt.

And so they headed into a rematch against Simeon Academy without their star player.

As senior Eric Powers said earlier in the season, "We're five guys playing as one." Simeon had a much deeper team than LT, had Division One prospects up and down their starting lineup, and were the defending state champs.

Lyons had heart. Don't let the final score fool you, the score was tight throughout the game, and the Lions managed to build up a 10 point lead before Simeon's depth started to show.

LT was down five points with less than four minutes to play before free throws helped build the Simeon lead to 11. The was 64-51.

They entered the season with question marks. Most of those were answered, and while the final score may have been disappointing to a degree, it really shouldn't be.

They did exactly what they said they would do.

They fought.

Editor's note: Photojournalist Mauricio Rubio documented the Lyons boys basketball season for a special project, attending every game.