Antioch gives Vernon Hills a scare
Vernon Hills boys basketball coach Matt McCarthy held an unopened package of mini Big Ten football helmets, a gift for his godson, Timothy, 4, who was in attendance at Antioch on Friday night.
“This is his Christmas gift. I never got it wrapped,” McCarthy said with a sheepish grin. “This was the first game he made it to this season so I had to show up with something.
“His mother went to IU (Indiana) and his father went to Illinois.”
McCarthy’s Cougars nearly gift-wrapped a stunning victory for Antioch.
Vernon Hills saw an 11-point third quarter lead shrink to 1 in the fourth quarter but hung on for a 62-57 win. Emery Paramski’s would-be, game-tying 3-pointer rimmed out in the closing seconds, and Vernon Hills’ Jarrett Wood grabbed the rebound.
Wood’s 2 free throws with 1 second left sealed the victory, just the third for the Cougars in their last eight games.
Vernon Hills (12-6) improved to 6-1 in the North Suburban Prairie Division, maintaining its share of first place with North Chicago.
“I think we’ll be a great contender with North Chicago to win the Prairie,” Vernon Hills guard Stephen Curry said. “There’s a lot of other great teams in the Prairie, as well, like Grant and Lakes.”
When Vernon Hills and Antioch played each other on Dec. 3, Vernon Hills cruised to a 72-47 win over a Sequoits squad that was playing without senior starters Mike Siperko and Mike Barakat. In the rematch, Siperko had 11 points and 9 rebounds, while Barakat scored 5 points, including a 3-pointer.
“They did everything I asked them to do, but make free throws,” coach Mike Skinner, said of his Sequoits, who went just 6 of 14 from the stripe. “If we make free throws, we win and pull off the upset.”
Besides Vernon Hills’ 9-2 run to start the third quarter, which included 3 assists from Curry for layups and had the Cougars up 43-32, the score was close throughout.
“I was telling these guys all week, ‘You go on the road and it’s going to be a lot different,’ ” McCarthy said. “(Antioch) had a great crowd and they played hard.”
Despite suffering its eighth straight loss, Antioch (3-17, 0-7) played inspired basketball.
“The Hononegah tournament did wonders for us,” Skinner said of four Martin Luther King tourney games Jan. 15 and Jan. 17. “My initial thinking was that we’ll go out there and play against those caliber of teams (Hononegah, Neuqua Valley, Zion-Benton and Normal West) so that we could come back for the second part of our season and be a better team.”
Sophomore call-up Nate Rathod provided a spark coming off the bench for Vernon Hills. In his most extended playing time on varsity, Rathod, who was with the Cougars at Wheeling over the holidays, scored 7 points, including two 3s.
“He’s been an all-around great player since middle school,” said fellow sophomore Curry, who scored 13 points and hustled for 7 rebounds. “I think he’s been ready to play at the varsity level for a long time.”
Rathod’s 3-pointer from the left corner, off a pass from Curry, extended the visitors’ lead to 56-50 with 4:28 left in the fourth.
“That’s why we brought him up — so he could make that corner 3 for us,” McCarthy said with a smile.
The Cougars’ DaVaris Daniels led all scorers with 18 points, including three 3s and a dunk. He also had 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
“He was really in a rhythm,” McCarthy said. “He was splashing shots.”
Brian Berzanski added 9 points and 10 rebounds for Vernon Hills, and Darren Hoveydai had 8 points.
Karl Nettgen came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points for Antioch. The 6-foot-5 junior forward had a 3-pointer and dunk.
“For once,” Skinner said, “we have guys who can dunk other than the coaches.”