Stonis, Wauconda earn bounce-back win against Grayslake Central

Called for an offensive foul just two minutes earlier, Wauconda's high-scoring Jarod Stonis soared high.

The 6-foot-3 senior flew into the lane, delivered the ball into the basket as a Grayslake Central defender hit the court - and again was whistled for charging.

Instead of extending a 4-point lead with just more than two minutes left, Wauconda had no time to sulk.

"I think I jumped over the second kid," Stonis said. "You just got to get over it and get back on 'D.' "

Stonis kept his composure, and so did his teammates.

Three nights after a tough loss to Grant, Wauconda hung on for a 49-44 win at Grayslake Central Friday night in Northern Lake County Conference action. Up by as many as 15 points in the first half, the visitors saw the Rams get within 1 point three times down the stretch but never gave up the lead.

"I was impressed with our defense," said coach Scott Luetschwager, whose Bulldogs surrendered just 10 points in the first half. "We had some nice long defensive stretches."

Stonis, who came in averaging 23.6 points in Wauconda's last seven games, finished with a team-high 16 points, which included a 5-of-6 effort from the foul line in the fourth quarter, and also had 6 rebounds. Kyle Drobnik (8 rebounds) and sophomore Connor Brannick added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

"It was more of a team win," said Stonis, who was defended tightly all night by Justin Shepley. "Scoring was spread throughout, which takes the pressure off me."

When Zachary Ceniza fed Drobnik for a layup with 3:16 left in the first half, Wauconda (7-11, 3-4) had a 22-7 lead. Grayslake Central (6-12, 2-5) didn't score in the second quarter until Billy Drevline's 3-pointer bounced high on the rim and fell through with 1:44 left.

Brannick's pair of second-quarter 3s helped Wauconda go into halftime up 24-10.

"We had talked about keys to tonight's game," Grayslake Central coach Kosta Kougias said. "We struggled to shoot (Tuesday) night (in a loss to Barrington). I told the kids, 'We got to make shots, we got to win 50-50 balls and we got to eliminate our turnovers.' "

At halftime, the Rams had made just 3 of 18 shots, committed 10 turnovers and, by Kougias' count, hadn't secured a single loose ball.

"So I'm ready to lose it," Kougias said. "My sophomore coach, (Brian) Centella, says, 'Just go in there and tell them we still got 16 minutes, but we need to be together. We have play together. We have to stop pointing fingers at each other, stop yelling at each other and take the me out of it.' "

Kougias heeded Centella's words, and the Rams responded. Sidney Goodman (team-high 16 points) scored the first 7 points, including a 3-pointer, of the second half, and the Rams were back in it. They eventually whittled their deficit to 36-35 with 3:52 left in the fourth on the ensuing possession after Jack Spalding absorbed Stonis' first charge.

The hosts got within 1 again when Goodman knocked down his second 3 with 1:38 to go. But Stonis and Drobnik each hit 2 free throws down the stretch, allowing the Bulldogs to pull out their fourth win in five games.

Grayslake Central suffered its fifth loss in a row, but its coach was encouraged.

"They really took some pride in their effort tonight," Kougias said of his players. "We eliminated our turnovers in that second half, made more shots than we did in the first half, and we got after loose balls."

Shepley grabbed 10 rebounds and scored 5 points, including a 3-pointer. Rams guard Alec Novak scored 6 of his 8 points in the fourth quarter and also had 3 steals.

Luetschwager played 11 guys, in part due to a lot of players not being at full-strength.

"We got some guys in here who are sick," Luetschwager said. "Guys are just run down. We got sinus infections, we got flus. Guys are just sucking wind."

In the end, the Bulldogs played through it.

"We just broke down for a little bit," Stonis said. "But our guys battled back and kept the lead up."