Vernon Hills runs the NSC Prairie table
Two nights after making school history by clinching its first outright North Suburban Conference Prairie Division championship, Vernon Hills' boys basketball team had another historic evening.
Robby Nardini's 26 points (four 3-pointers) led the way in a 62-49 win over visiting Grant on senior night, as the Cougars completed their first 12-0 run in the division.
Vernon Hills (25-3) led 14-11 after one quarter, 32-23 at halftime and 49-33 after three. Lem Turner added 11 points for the Cougars. Sam Rattner and Cory Levin added 9 and 8 points, respectively.
Grant was led by James Mobley with 12 points and Pierre Bailey with 11.
Libertyville 86, Zion-Benton 80: Jake Mansfield scored 23 points, Conor Peterson added 22, and the host Wildcats won their North Suburban Lake finale.
Libertyville (13-12) also received 12 points from Joe Borcia and 11 from Ben Kimpler.
Zion-Benton sophomore guard Damarquis Henry led all scorers with 24 points. Tennessee-bound Admiral Schofield had 19.
Lake Zurich 65, Mundelein 39: Mike Travlos scored 24 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to lead the host Bears in the North Suburban Lake finale for both team.
The Bears closed the first half with a 9-0 run, which included Nick Penny's drive and kick to Jack O'Neill, whose 3-pointer beat the buzzer, extending the hosts' lead to 29-18.
"With no practice (Thursday) because of the cold day and a week off, we were a little lethargic early but really turned it on in the second half," Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher said. "Mundelein was doubling Travlos and he did an excellent job distributing and finding open teammates."
Travlos had 3 assists in the second half and led Lake Zurich with 8 rebounds. O'Neill (11 points) also scored in double figures.
Mundelein was led in scoring by Isaiah Woolford with 11 points.
Grayslake Central 69, Woodstock North 45: David Llorens scored 22 points to lead the host Rams in the Fox Valley Fox game.
Grayslake Central (13-11, 7-4) received 9 points apiece from Oronde Fleming and Sam Ruhlmann and 8 from Michael Benko.
North Chicago 55, Wauconda 51: The visiting Bulldogs fell just short in their North Suburban Prairie finale, despite another double-double from center Ben Carlson (12 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks).
Matt Bulgarelli and Dylan Latiolais each had 11 points for Wauconda (14-11, 7-5).