N. Chicago 70, Lakes 65
At the end of each practice, Lakes' boys basketball team has a drill where each player has to make at least 70 percent of his free throws. Usually, this is a drill that senior Trey Williams and the Eagles have little trouble with. For some reason, this week was more difficult that others.
"We just didn't seem to hit free throws in practice like we are used to," Williams said. "I am not sure what happened, but we struggled for some reason."
The trend from practice carried over into the Eagles' key North Suburban prairie battle against visiting North Chicago.
Lakes hit on just 12 of 24 foul shots, and it proved costly as the Eagles fell to the Warhawks for the second time this season 70-65. The loss snapped a 12-game win streak for Lakes (13-5, 5-2), while North Chicago remained perfect in the division at 7-0 and improved to 15-2 overall.
"Tonight was one of those real good high school basketball games," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said. "It was tough, but I am proud how the kids came out and played."
Free throw shooting was just one area the Eagles could point to, but even with the struggles at the line, Lakes still found itself within striking distance of the Warhawks late in the fourth quarter.
North Chicago had pulled out to a 44-32 after a 7-2 run to open the second half. Patrick Terrell sparked the spurt with 5 of his 16 points to open the quarter. Terrell was one of three Warhawks in double figures. Steven Conner led North Chicago with 19 points. Kentrall Wilson (12 points) and Dentri Henning (10 points) also hit double digits.
Instead of falling further behind like it did earlier in the year when the Eagles fell to the Warhawks, Lakes closed the gap behind Williams. His long 3-pointer ignited an 11-4 run to close the third quarter and Lakes was within 51-45 heading into the fourth period.
"Coach just told us to keep our composure and to relax," said Williams, who led all scorers with 21 points. "We knew we could get back into the game."
The run extended into the fourth quarter, when senior Kevin Guirand got going. His fancy, spinning, falling-down layup early in the period got the Eagles to within 55-49 with 6:11 to go.
"Lakes is a very disciplined team and they seemed more hungry this time than the first time we played them," said North Chicago coach Gerald Coleman. "(Lakes) was very well prepared for the game and they were a different team than the first time we played them."
North Chicago pulled away again and built another 8-point lead before the Eagles made one final push. This time the Lakes run was bolstered by the strong play of sophomore John Androus (13 points). A free throw from Androus pulled the Eagles to within 60-55, then a subsequent steal and layup got the Eagles as close as they had been since early in the game at 60-57 with 1:56 to go.
"(John) really took it up another level," Phelan said. "He made some big plays and got us close there at the end."
But when the Warhawks needed to secure the game they did so at the line. North Chicago hit 8 of 10 from the line in the final two minutes and held off the Eagles.