Rideout just what the doctor ordered for VH

Forget the chicken soup, the Nyquil, a day bundled under the covers or anything else that's supposed to help remedy the flu.

Going 2-0 over a weekend is what makes Matt McCarty feel better.

McCarty, the boys basketball coach at Vernon Hills, has been battling the flu this week and was feeling so rotten on Friday that he had to miss his team's victory over Grant.

He stayed at home, but watched part of the game on video and instantly began to perk up.

After Saturday, he should be fully recovered.

The Cougars suffered no letdown from their Friday night high and rode a 28-point performance from senior forward Kenny Rideout to a 44-39 North Suburban Conference Prairie Division victory over host Wauconda.

The win pushes Vernon Hills back over .500 at 9-8 overall (5-2 Prairie).

Wauconda, meanwhile, drops to 8-11 overall and 1-6 in Prairie action.

"Some of our turnovers did cause me to cough a little bit (and feel nauseous)," McCarty said with a laugh. "But I do feel better. This is better than the medicine."

For Wauconda, the 6-foot-5 Rideout was a tough pill to swallow.

He was strong and efficient around the basket, hitting 11-of-12 field goals even though the offense (and Wauconda's defense) was completely centered around him. In fact, in the first quarter, he had all 10 of Vernon Hills' points, which even the public address announcer noted.

"I kind of cracked a smile at that one," said Rideout, whose 28 points tied his career high set last year against Antioch. "I wasn't expecting anything like this. But we had great passing by everyone. Guys were just driving and dishing. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have had half the points."

But Rideout also created some shots on his own. He was active on the boards and got a few putbacks. He finished with 9 rebounds.

"Rideout just absolutely killed us," Wauconda coach Rich Wolf said. "He tends to find ways to have good games against us. He's just really tough inside. He ate us up in there."

But Wauconda had some strong inside play, too.

Senior forward Eric Grozavescu, who happens to be friends with Rideout, was impressive in his own way.

Grozavescu fractured his nose Friday night in Wauconda's 2-point loss to Round Lake when he took an elbow to the face. He spent Saturday morning at the doctor's office and talked his doctor into letting him play with a facemask that one of his teammates is loaning him until he can get one made specially for his face.

Despite being sore, a little tentative and even dizzy at times, Grozavescu gutted it out and scored 11 points, one shy of Connor Dimick's team-high 12 points.

"The mask is Josh Mangioni's and I added some padding in there to get it to fit my face a little better, but it was still pretty tough," the 6-foot-4 Grozavescu said. "It was so hard to see. I mean, I could barely see the ground (without bending over). And I was in some pain. I was really surprised that I had the kind of game I did. But I just tried to play my game and not worry about the mask."

Instead, Grozavescu had to worry about Rideout. The two were often going head-to-head inside.

"(Rideout) is a really good player," Grozavescu said. "It took all of my energy just to defend him. He did a lot tonight."