Lake Zurich's big three take aim at big goals

Inside the boys basketball locker room at Lake Zurich, there are signs on every player's locker.

20 wins.

Regional championship.

Those have been the team goals for the last three years. But seeing them in writing every day is supposed to help the Bears finally turn them into a reality this season.

Having one of the most talented teams at Lake Zurich in years, led by senior captains Mike Travlos, Will McClaughry and Jack O'Neill, all of whom are hungry three-year starters, should help the cause, too. Travlos, McClaughry and O'Neill are each averaging between 12 and 20 points per game right now.

"We would love for those things to happen," Travlos said of reaching the team's goals. "We think about that a lot."

Already, Lake Zurich is off to its best start in years, 7-1 after Wednesday's tough 60-54 North Suburban Conference Lake Division loss to another unbeaten, Lake Forest.

The Bears opened the season by winning the Grant Thanksgiving tournament, the first tournament championship of any kind for Lake Zurich in at least seven years. Then they started North Suburban Lake Division play with a signature win against a top-10 powerhouse in Zion-Benton, a team that Lake Zurich hadn't beaten in at least a decade.

"We have a really talented squad and we worked hard in the off-season," said the 6-foot-3 Travlos, a shifty, sharp-shooting guard who leads Lake Zurich in scoring with 20.5 points per game. "That's showing up on the court. We're really motivated by our goals. They haven't happened here in a while."

The last time Lake Zurich won a regional title was in 2005. That same season, the Bears posted their last 20-win season, finishing 27-3 overall.

Since then, Lake Zurich has averaged just 13 wins per season.

But a major breakthrough came last year. Kind of.

The Bears came just shy of accomplishing both of their goals, ironically, at the same time.

They lost in the regional championship game to Fremd. A win in that game would have given Lake Zurich not only its elusive regional hardware but also its 20th win of the season.

The Bears finished last season 19-12, winning six of their final seven games.

"I've thought about last year and that loss (to Fremd) all during the off-season," said the 6-foot-3 O'Neill, a 3-point specialist who averages 12.2 points per game. "That was really tough. We were so close. It hurt. I think it's feeding all of us this season."

The Fremd loss also opened the Bears' eyes to their potential.

"I remember looking at that Fremd team and thinking that they were really good and they had a lot of seniors on that team, a lot of experience," said McClaughry, a 6-foot-6 center who can also shoot three-pointers and is averaging 14.2 points per game. "We have a lot of senior experience on our team now, too. I feel like we can be that kind of team this year, a team like Fremd was last year."

The Bears' senior experience runs deep with Travlos, McClaughry and O'Neill. Travlos was brought up to the varsity midway through his freshman year and McClaughry and O'Neill joined him as sophomores when all three were inserted into the starting lineup.

"We've been around a little bit," said McClaughry with a laugh. "We've played so much together. We've been playing feeder together since fifth grade. We've played AAU together since second or third grade. We just click. We all know what we like to do and we're able to get each other the ball where we need it."

Clearly, all three senior captains like to shoot, as do Lake Zurich's other two starters, Nick Meyer and Nick Penny.

The up-tempo Bears are averaging around 60 points per game, nearly 20 points per game more than last season.

"We have a lot of shooters," Travlos said. "Our starting five can all shoot the three with confidence. Even our big guy, Will (McClaughry), is a great shooter from out there.

"Defenses have to respect our shooters and that's opened up lanes for us to penetrate and get to the basket. I've been doing that a lot more this year, driving, getting layups or kicking out to teammates."

Across the board, Lake Zurich is getting more respect. The Bears are ranked for the first time in years, fifth in the Daily Herald's weekly poll. College coaches are taking notice, too. Travlos has already signed on for a full scholarship with Division II Hillsdale College in Michigan while McClaughry and O'Neill have nearly every Division III school in Illinois and Wisconsin after them.

"We've beaten some good teams and we're finally getting some recognition," O'Neill said. "Zion-Benton is such a good team and when we beat them, people started to believe that we're actually pretty good, too. People haven't usually seen us that way in the past.

"It's been a lot different, but pretty nice. It would be really special if we could keep this going. It would be something I would always remember."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

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