Grayslake North rallies past McHenry
At 6 feet 6 and 200 pounds, David Sparks sometimes simply needs to stand tall in order to “stand tall.”
That's exactly what Grayslake North basketball coach Todd Grunloh requested of his senior center in preparation for Wednesday night's Fox Valley Conference crossover with visiting McHenry, which boasts 6-5 Brian Madson and 6-4 Jimmy Preston in its frontcourt.
“Those are the two best post players that I know of that we'll see all year,” Grunloh said. “All week we talked (to Sparks) about not leaving (his) feet. He's long and he's got such a good instinct for the game that he was able to block shots really without even leaving his feet and getting in foul trouble.”
Sparks was a spark with his shot-blocking and scoring, as was Teddy Ludwick with his early fourth-quarter shooting, as Grayslake North rallied to defeat McHenry 57-52.
The Knights outscored the visitors 20-7 in the final quarter, limiting them to 0-of-8 shooting from the floor.
“I would say this is the most our players have been up in a while, especially for a game this early in the season,” Grunloh said. “We knew going in that they were a good team, but at the same time, we thought we were pretty good.”
Playing for the first time since a win over Antioch 11 days ago, Grayslake North overcame 10-of-34 shooting in the first half to improve to 6-1, while dropping McHenry to 6-2.
“It was a big win for us,” Sparks said. “Now that we got this win, maybe people are going to look at us and see that we're able to beat big (teams).”
Sparks more than did his part, as he continued to show marked improvement. He finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. That, after a 10-point/8-block effort against Antioch.
“My coach told me coming into this game that I had to not leave my feet whenever they'd go up for a shot,” Sparks said. “And with the two big guys, Madson and Preston, he told me just to attack them on offense go into them, make sure I drew the foul and make the basket.”
Sparks even contributed a steal early in the fourth quarter that resulted a Ludwick layup in transition. With less than a minute remaining and Grayslake North protecting a 53-52 lead, Sparks saved a potential turnover by securing a loose ball and alertly calling timeout.
“He definitely played a heck of a game,” Ludwick said.
Ludwick, who led all scorers with 19 points and also grabbed 8 rebounds, stepped up his game in the fourth. After shooting 4 of 18 through three quarters, the senior guard opened the final quarter by hitting three straight shots, including two 3-pointers.
“It just feels like it's always that way,” Ludwick said. “Once one of us can start knocking down shots, it feels like everyone else can feed off that energy. I kind of take that personally, and try to put the team on my back offensively and just get us going.”
McHenry had put together a 7-0 run in the final two minutes of the third to take a 45-37 advantage into the fourth.
“I think we were just gassed,” said Grunloh, who doesn't remember subbing the second half.
Sparks' putback and free throw snapped a 49-49 tie with 3:01 left in the fourth. McHenry was within 53-52 with Knights sophomore A.J. Fish (9 points, 7 rebounds) calmly sank both ends of a 1-and-1 with 25.6 seconds to go, ignoring chants by McHenry's fans of, first, “sophomore,” and then, “pressure.”
Sparks then stuffed Antioch-transfer Kyle Melton in the lane in the final seconds, and Ludwick's 2 free throws finished the scoring.
Melton led McHenry with 13 points, while Madson had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Jimmy Bellich also scored 11 points for the Warriors.
Ludwick, Sparks and Mark Hall (10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals) all scored in double figures for Grayslake North.
“Our coach told us this was our game to win,” Ludwick said. “In the third quarter they got a lot of easy layups. We were playing a little lazy and losing our man. (Grunloh) told us, ‘Just pick it up.' That's something he preaches to us, that defense wins games. I feel that's definitely what did it for us tonight.”