Steady approach lifts Lake Zurich past Addison Trail

The style of basketball that the Lake Zurich boys basketball team employs can be exhausting to the opponent.

It's not because the Bears employ a run-and-gun style. Rather, the slow, deliberate style seems to mentally wear down teams.

So much so that by the time the fourth quarter rolls around, even the smallest deficit can seem insurmountable.

In its second game of the day as part of Lake Zurich's Martin Luther King Classic, the Bears led Addison Trail by 4 points heading into the fourth quarter - before it became a 44-25 win for Lake Zurich.

Lake Zurich improved to 4-0 in the tournament and 15-4 overall. The Bears will await the winner of the Palatine vs. Niles North contest in the title game of the tournament at 5 p.m. Monday. Addison Trail dropped its second game of the day and will face Streamwood at 10 a.m. Monday.

"I said to our guys at the beginning of the fourth quarter that a 6-point lead in this game is a big lead," said Addison Trail coach Brendan Lyons. "When we got our chances we just weren't finishing."

The Bears opened the final quarter scoring the first 10 points. A 3-pointer by Nick Meyer (9 points) was followed by another from Michael Bens, and the lead was 32-22. A steal by Bens led to another Meyer bucket, and just like that Lake Zurich was in command.

"We play long, hard possessions and most teams aren't used to that," said Bens who scored 10 points while dishing out 4 assists. "Our defense held them down in the second half and you could tell that it disrupted their game."

Lake Zurich continued its fourth-quarter run, eventually outscoring Addison Trail 18-3 in the final period while holding the Blazers (9-7) to just 8 second-half points.

"I think our guys, because we shot so poorly in the first couple of quarters, were a bit hesitant on offense," said Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher. "A couple of guys started to hit their shots - Meyer hit a 3, then Bens and before you know it goes from 4, to 10 to what we won by."

Addison Trail started the game far better than it finished. The Blazers opened with a 7-2 burst to start the game led by junior guard Jack Kalbas. He hit a 3 and scored 5 of his team-best 9 points in the opening quarter. Kalbas also got help from senior Eric Grygo, who was a force early before foul trouble slowed him down in the second half.

"We had some good balance early with guys sinking some shots, but in the second half we didn't get the kind of balance we need," Lyons said.

Lake Zurich took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Bens to end the first quarter with a 10-9 lead.