Knar shoots Mundelein past Tilden

Robert Knar watched his former Mundelein teammate and current University of Wisconsin freshman Ben Brust play on television recently.

Right now, it's Knar who's prime-time material.

And if the sophomore guard keeps up his torrid shooting, he might threaten to break Brust's scoring record in the Jacobs Holiday Classic.

“Possibly,” a smiling Knar said after scoring a team-high 23 points and dishing out 10 assists in Mundelein's 88-61 win over Tilden on Monday. “At the rate I'm going, I hope I can do it. I've learned a lot from Ben, just from watching him play.

“I'm picking up a lot of his shooting skills,” he added with another smile.

The pure-shooting Knar poured in a career-high 33 points in Mundelein's tournament opener against Elk Grove on Saturday. As a junior two years ago, Brust scored a tourney-record 136 points in five games (27.2 ppg). Knar is averaging 28 points after two contests.

“He's finally loosened up and relaxed,” coach Dick Knar, whose Mustangs improved to 9-2 and 2-0 at Jacobs, said of his youngest son. “He's starting to get his rhythm back. His jump shot is coming, so the other parts of his game are coming, too.”

A tweak in his shooting form has helped Robert Knar find his deadly shot, which he releases quickly.

“It took a couple of reprimands from my coaches,” Robert Knar said. “They said I was fading back on my shot. So I had to just start spotting up and shooting up straight, and then (the jump shot) started falling.”

Included in Robert Knar's improved all-around game is his rebounding. He grabbed 6 boards against Tilden, converting one on the offensive end into a bucket.

“I like scoring, as you can obviously see,” he said. “But I do it (rebound) for the team because we need rebounders and, also, it creates scoring for me. If I get a rebound, I can pass out to other people.”

After an all-conference/all-area season as a freshman, Knar is learning to score without the benefit of Brust in the backcourt with him.

Said Dick Knar: “I told (Robert), ‘It's going to be an adjustment for you because last year the (opponent's) best player guarded Ben. Now, the best player is guarding you outside. And not only is he face-guarding you, the (defense) is hedging on everything.' ”

Mundelein opponents still have to worry about Ryan Sawvell inside. The 6-foot-8 Sawvell had another strong game Monday, totaling 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocked shots and 3 steals. He also had 3 dunks, including one off an alley-oop feed from Knar.

Leavon Head has 5 assists for Mundelein.

Tilden's William Jones led all scorers with 25 points, including six 3-pointers. Korey Myers scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter for the Blue Devils.

Mundelein shot 11 of 15 from the floor in the first quarter and took a 25-9 lead into the second. The Mustangs led 44-24 at halftime and 66-40 after three.

Charlie Gandolfi scored a season-high 8 points coming off the bench. Richard Knar and David Delgado each had seven.

Robert Knar played only a couple of minutes in the fourth.

And, yes, he might be calling Brust.

“I love talking to him,” Robert Knar said. “He's been a friend forever. I've known him since I was a little kid.”