Sterling effort from Stonis lifts Wauconda past Vernon Hills

Left unguarded in the left corner of the court as the final seconds ticked down in the first half, Jarod Stonis snagged some of that confidence Wauconda has been playing with lately.

The 6-foot-1 junior guard caught a bounce pass and knocked a 3-pointer, giving the Bulldogs a 7-point lead over visiting Vernon Hills.

"I was open, so I decided to let it fly," Stonis said. "It boosted the confidence a lot."

Stonis was just getting started. He scored 16 more points in the second half, finishing with a game-high 21 to go along with 6 rebounds, as Wauconda won 54-46 in the North Suburban Prairie Division finale for both teams Friday night.

Wauconda (9-15, 6-6) is the midst of its best basketball of the season, with four wins in its last seven games, all since the calendar flipped to February.

"We've knocked some shots down and, defensively, we're just trying to push the tempo a little more," Bulldogs coach Scott Luetschwager said. "The kids are really responding to it. They're finally buying into the style of play that we need to play to be successful."

Now, Wauconda, which was 5-12 when January ended, has a chance to reach double-digit victories. The Bulldogs host Mundelein, which has 2 wins on the season, Tuesday in their regular-season finale.

"We're moving the ball and we're pushing it, and we're just getting open looks," Stonis said. "Coach was telling us that since we weren't going to win the conference that we're just going to try to make other teams work for it."

Bryan Nee sank three 3-pointers and finished with 10 points for Wauconda.

Michael Dougherty scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter for Vernon Hills (13-15, 6-6), which shot just 2 of 12 from three-point range through three quarters against Wauconda's zone. The Cougars close out the regular season at home against Libertyville on Tuesday.

"Mostly, we just didn't play well," Dougherty said. "We're going to use this to learn. We might play a zone in the playoffs. Against a zone, when you're not shooting well, you got to learn to drive."

Up 22-15 at halftime thanks to Stonis' 3, Wauconda was leading 29-24 late in the third when a pair of free throws by Dylan Latiolais started a 9-0 run to close the quarter. Stonis scored the final 6 points, including another 3-pointer that made the score 38-24 heading into the fourth.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Jack O'Connell (9 points) and Jake Helfand (7 points) pulled Vernon Hills within 46-39 with 1:39 left in the fourth. But Stonis finished a no-look feed from Nee and then hiked the Bulldogs' lead to double digits again by scoring on a putback.

Vernon Hills had beaten the visiting Bulldogs 37-30 on Jan. 14.

"They were able to shoot in their own gym," Dougherty said.

Vernon Hills played without 6-7 center Eric Weiler, who's done for the season due to personal reasons. Jared Bennett, a 6-2 senior forward who just became eligible, played his first game of the season, and coach Matt McCarty liked his effort. Bennett contributed 5 rebounds (three offensive).

"You got to give Wauconda credit," McCarty said. "They made some shots. It's hard for us. We really don't have a rim protector. We battled back, but Wauconda made plays when they had to."