'Charity stripe' takes on new meaning at Lakes

Fundraising has become as much a part of high school athletics as crosstown rivalry games or athletes who still play mostly for the fun of it.

In order to make ends meet in a challenged economy, or to absorb any expenses above and beyond the norm, most athletic departments ask their teams to do a yearly fundraiser.

At Lakes, head coach Brian Phelan has been killing two birds with one stone.

His idea for a fundraiser was to stage a free throw-a-thon and have each player in the program make 100 free throws.

Money from friends of the program could be pledged for each free throw, which would help the program's bottom line. Meanwhile, Phelan reasoned that all the free throw shooting would help his team at the line during games.

"We had every kid in the program doing this, and at the varsity level I've definitely noticed that we're shooting better. Our free throw percentage is better than last year," Phelan said. "That's been a real positive."

The other good news is that the Eagles have made quite a bit of money from their free throw-a-thon. Phelan estimated that they've already made between $7,000 and $8,000 and still have a few pledges yet to collect.

"All the kids had to come in with 10 names and addresses of people they knew and we sent out this huge direct mailing in mid-November," Phelan said. "I think we mailed about 500 letters.

"The thing that's great about it is that there is no overhead and no door-to-door. We've had people pledge $.10 per free throw or $1 a free throw, or just a flat fee. We've just done very well with it."

With some of the money, Phelan bought a "Shoot-A-Way" device that provides continuous shooting by immediately getting the ball back to a shooter after a made shot.

"We get four times as many shots in during our drills because of that thing," Phelan said. "We love it. I'd like to get four or five more. It was money well spent."

Late losses: At Grayslake North, leads seem to vanish into thin air.

There have been countless times this season in which the Knights have had a substantial lead late in the game only to lose it ... and the game.

Over the holidays, Grayslake North played four games at Grant and had a double-digit lead in the second half of every game.

The Knights won only one of those games -- an overtime victory over Round Lake.

"And we had to make a 3-pointer at the end of the game just to send it into overtime ... even though we were up by 15 late," Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh said. "I just think it comes with experience. We're still only in our second year as a program and we haven't had much experience winning.

"It seems like even when we're up, we play like we don't want to screw up instead of being aggressive and playing to win."

Grunloh is hoping the experience of the Round Lake game -- of finally finishing off a game -- will help his team in the future.

"I think it will help us a bit," Grunloh said. "Any time we win, it's going to help us."

Centers of attention: Two of the better true big men in the area this season have been Grayslake North center Tony Herman and Wauconda forward Eric Grozavescu, both of whom are 6-foot-5.

Grozavescu is averaging about 20 points this season and Herman is at about 10 points, but has nearly tripled his average from a year ago.

Both Grozavescu and Herman offer the kind of big, physical presence in the post that most high school teams simply don't have.

"Eric is just a workhorse," Wauconda coach Rich Wolf said. "He's strong and he's playing extremely well."

Grozavescu is coming off of a solid performance at the Jacobs Holiday Tournament where he scored 30 points against Marian Central and 24 points against Lindbloom. He also recently scored 16 points against a tough North Chicago team.

Meanwhile, Herman had 23 points against Round Lake and has been in double digits six times this season.

"Tony is the first real post presence we've ever had," Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh said. "He played last year, but he wasn't nearly as strong and aggressive around the basket. He would kind of go way from the basket last year because he was worried about getting his shot blocked.

"He spent a lot of time last summer getting bigger and stronger and now he just goes to the basket strong. He's come a long way."

Tall order: Earlier this season, Vernon Hills forward Kenny Rideout playfully pointed out that he's sometimes seen his height listed at 6-foot-3 in game programs.

And he's really closer to 6-feet-5½.

Well, last weekend, Rideout needed every last inch when he went up against South Elgin's super-sized center Daniel Lopez.

Just a junior, Lopez is 6-foot-9 and 270 pounds.

"I shook hands with (Lopez) in the line afterward and his hand just engulfed mine," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. "He's just a huge kid."

And Rideout was matched up with him head-to-head.

"Kenny had 4 shots blocked (by Lopez) in the first half," McCarty said. "But in the second half, Kenny attacked (Lopez) with some great footwork and a lot of good moves, like up-and-unders and shoulder fakes."

Rideout, who averages about 16 points, wound up with 17 points and 9 rebounds.

"I think it's great to know that if we face teams that have size, we can match up with them because we've got Kenny," McCarty said. "But I also think it's great for Kenny to know that he can play against guys that big. He's going to be playing Division III basketball at St. Norbert's next year and he's going to run into players like that and he's proven that he has the moves to compete against those kids."

Nice surprise: Heading into the season, Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty had point guard Riaz Hoveydai pegged as a reserve.

Now McCarty can't imagine the starting lineup without Hoveydai, who has started almost half of the Cougars' 15 games. He had 10 points last weekend against South Elgin.

"He's definitely been our biggest surprise of the season," McCarty said of Hoveydai. "He just worked his way into the lineup by really improving his defense. He's also gotten a lot better at taking care of the ball and being a great team leader."

Freshman fitting in: Some coaches don't like to move freshmen up to the varsity because they worry about how the older players will receive the idea.

Not Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty. He hasn't lost a wink of sleep since he brought up freshman forward DaVaris Daniels, who is a starter and is one of the Cougars' leading scorers.

"Some older guys don't like it if a freshman plays and (jealousy) can be an issue," McCarty said. "But I haven't seen that at all with us. First of all, DaVaris is a very likeable kid and he excites the rest of the guys in practice with his athletic ability. He's amazing.

"I also think a lot of it has to do with our seniors and the leadership they've provided. They've done a lot to coach DaVaris in a very positive way and they've helped him out whenever he's needed it. I think that's made the transition much smoother for DaVaris."

Tough tourney: Lake Zurich won not only the consolation championship of the Pekin Holiday tournament, but also some bragging rights.

According to Lake Zurich coach John Zarr, there is now a statewide RPI for high schools that rates the holiday basketball tournaments based on the strength of the field.

Pekin was rated second behind the Proviso West tournament. The tournament at Pontiac, where Warren plays, was rated No. 3.

"That (Pekin) tournament is just so tough," said Zarr, whose team lost to host Pekin in its opener but then rebounded to beat Geneseo, Springfield Lanphier and Morton. "Entering the tournament, we were 4-5 and so was one other team but everyone else had winning records and some were undefeated.

"For us to go 3-1 at Pekin tells us that we're really moving in the right direction. We feel pretty good about it."

Good going: The Bears also felt good about the play of guard Connor Mooney and 6-foot-6 forward Danny Coleman.

Mooney made the all-tournament team at Pekin after rebounding from a subpar opening game in which he shot 35 percent from the field and scored just 5 points.

In the final three games, he scored 24, 23 and 26 points.

"Connor shot the ball better after that first game, but he also moved a lot better without the ball," Lake Zurich coach John Zarr said. "He's starting to understand that constant movement and setting screens is going to free him up more.

"Some of our best shooters here in the past have been our best screeners. When you set a screen, someone has to hedge and help and if you leave a great shooter even for a moment, he can hurt you."

Meanwhile, Coleman hurt defenses inside over the holidays.

He scored 14 points and grabbed 10 boards against Springfield Lanphier and had 19 points against Geneseo.

"Danny was kind of struggling a little bit earlier in the season," Zarr said. "I think the biggest thing was a lack of an aggressive mindset and he really picked that up. We've talked about that with the whole team really and I think our guys are finally understanding what it takes to play at this level."