Hibbing leads Lakes to win over Antioch
It was as if Nick Hibbing was politely shaking off a catcher’s sign.
Hibbing, a University of Iowa-bound baseball pitcher and Lakes basketball player during the winter, had a request to a classmate before the young reporter pushed the “record” button for a short video that Lakes students will be able to view on school monitors next week. The student wanted to ask the 6-foot-4 forward on-camera about tweaking his left ankle on a dunk try that went awry during the third quarter.
“Aw, don’t ask me about that,” pleaded Hibbing, dropping his head. “That was embarrassing.”
Actually, Hibbing’s missed dunk wasn’t embarrassing at all. He had displayed plenty of athleticism by stealing the ball at midcourt and then flying in and, despite his ankle giving out, adjusting to make a layup.
And, at game’s end, Hibbing’s 13 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals had helped host Lakes knock off crosstown-rival Antioch 65-55 in Lake Villa Friday night.
“I just went up and my leg kind of went numb,” Hibbing said. “I thought I hurt it a lot worse than I really did. It scared me, more than anything.”
The victory was Lakes’ second in a row, hiking the Eagles’ record to 8-14 and 6-3 in the North Suburban Prairie Division. Lakes also defeated Antioch (3-20, 0-9) on Dec. 10.
“I went to Antioch Upper Grade School, so I played with those kids forever,” said Lakes junior Tanner Blain, who sank three 3-pointers en route to a game-high 17 points.
Parker Blain, Tanner’s big brother, added 10 points and 9 rebounds.
“After our football loss to them,” Tanner Blain added, “it feels good to beat them twice.”
A huge second quarter propelled the Eagles, who trailed 8-6 after the opening eight minutes. Hibbing’s 3-pointer midway through the quarter capped a 10-2 run, and after Mike Siperko (13 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals) scored on a putback to pull Antioch within 24-20, Lakes responded with six straight points.
A 3-point play by Siperko, who brought energy off the bench, had the Sequoits within 30-23 at halftime.
“Coach told us (after the first quarter) that we need to start moving the ball better and run the offense,” Tanner Blain said. “We get over-aggressive, I guess you could say, and then we start taking it to the hole and good things happen.”
Another Siperko 3-point play cut the Sequoits’ deficit to 32-29 midway through the third, but Tanner Blain responded with a 3. Lakes closed the quarter with a 10-2 run that included Hibbing’s breakaway.
“He already hurt his ankle earlier (in the season), and I was scared,” Tanner Blain said after watching Hibbing slip and have to leave the game temporarily. “I looked at him and I was like, ‘You got to be kidding me.’ ”
Hibbing had injured the left ankle originally against the host school in Mundelein’s Thanksgiving tournament. He had put down a dunk in the Eagles’ previous game against Grayslake Central.
Hibbing said he hurt the ankle bad enough that his leg was purple up to his calf.
“I hurt it pretty bad so I took a little time off,” Hibbing said. “It messed up my pitching routine for baseball, also.”
Lakes took a 49-36 advantage into the fourth and played well with the lead. Tanner Blain hit two 3-pointers, while Hibbing sealed the win by hitting 6 of 8 free throws (8 of 10 overall).
“The first quarter I thought it was the teams feeling each other out,” Lakes coach Chris Snyder said. “It’s not going to be the prettiest of play when it’s two rivals going head to head. The second quarter we started getting into a rhythm, and then in the third quarter I thought we started hitting some shots.”
Despite a lot of good looks, Antioch went only 18 of 57 from the floor (32 percent).
“We got to make them,” Sequoits coach Mike Skinner said.
Sam Green scored a team-high 15 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for Antioch, and Joe Gregory netted his 9 points on a trio of treys. But talented juniors Karl Nettgen and William Waschow did not play. Skinner said Nettgen was ineligible and that Waschow missed practice Thursday.
“It’s always something,” Skinner said.