Vernon Hills turns away Round Lake

The students at Vernon Hills High School meant well. But they really didn’t do the boys basketball team any favors.

Shirts were made and sold this week at school to hype the Cougars’ big game on Saturday against North Chicago. A win against the first-place Warhawks could give Vernon Hills at least a piece of the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division title. It would be the first such title for the Cougars in school history.

But what the students were forgetting is that Vernon Hills was scheduled to play at Round Lake on Friday. A loss there would make Saturday’s game against North Chicago a moot point.

“Those t-shirts said ‘Beat North Chicago,’” Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. “I was saying that I wish they had said ‘Beat Round Lake.’

“As coaches, we didn’t talk about North Chicago all week. But everybody else was. I told the kids that the (Round Lake game) would not be an easy game for us because all of their friends were talking about North Chicago and when you’re a kid, it’s not easy to focus on something else.”

For a while, the Cougars proved their coach’s fears correct.

Vernon Hills started off sluggish, while Round Lake was just the opposite.

But the Cougars managed to shake off a 10-point first-quarter deficit and an 8-point halftime deficit in time to keep that North Chicago game tonight meaningful.

Vernon Hills used a big third-quarter to power its way to a 43-37 North Suburban Prairie Division victory over Round Lake.

Vernon Hills, which outscored the Panthers 20-4 in the third quarter, improves to 15-7 overall and 9-2 in the Prairie. Round Lake drops to 5-17 overall and 3-8 in the Prairie.

“It was (Round Lake’s) senior night, they were fired up and they had a lot of fans. They got off to a great start and we weren’t ready for it at first,” Vernon Hills senior forward DaVaris Daniels said. “We had a lot to overcome, but luckily we did.

“We’ve got a big game coming up (against North Chicago) and we’re trying to do something that Vernon Hills has never done before.”

Daniels kept reminding himself of that, especially in the second half when he was trying to pull the Cougars out of the hole.

He scored 11 of his game-high 16 points after halftime, including 2 three-pointers.

Vernon Hills also got 9 points from Stephen Curry and 8 points from Chris Argianas.

“I know I’ve got to pick the guys up. I’ve been here for four years. I think I know when to pick everything up,” Daniels said. “I just had to attack more and find open shots and hope that they go in. And they went in.”

Vernon Hills got a bunch of shots to go in during the third quarter. While the Cougars connected on 8-of-13 shots, Round Lake went cold.

The Panthers hit just 2 of their 14 field goal attempts in the third.

It was a stark contrast to their impressive shooting of the first half, particularly the first quarter.

Round Lake hit 7-of-14 field goals in the first quarter to end with an 18-8 lead. The Panthers rolled up 4 3-pointers in the quarter, including 2 by Teandre Brown.

“When things are going well and our kids are feeling good about themselves, it’s easier to knock down shots,” Round Lake coach Jim Roberts said. “We were feeling good about ourselves in the first quarter. But we lack that killer instinct and that toughness to understand that Vernon Hills is going to keep playing and we have to learn to play in that situation and finish out.”

Nick Lange also had a big first-quarter 3-pointer for the Panthers. The senior forward finished with a team-high 14 points. He was the only Round Lake player to reach double figures.

“At the beginning of the game, we brought the intensity and we were playing hard,” Lange said. “But like Coach (Roberts) said, when it gets to be crunch time and we need to make shots, we don’t make them and they have players who could.

“We’re still developing as a program. Eventually, I think we’ll get better.”