Guirand, Lakes overcome 39 by Randolph
Round Lake boys basketball coach Jeremy Fisher skipped his team's home game against Lakes on Thursday night.
His absence was for the best possible reason. Earlier in the day, his wife gave birth to Brady, their first child.
He ended up missing quite a show.
Round Lake senior Vernon Randolph scored 39 points, but Lakes senior Kevin Guirand countered with 25 points and 14 rebounds to help the Eagles escape with a 73-71 victory in an NSC Prairie Division game.
Randolph became eligible right before Christmas.
"That was the old Vernon," said Guirand, who has played against Randolph since sixth grade. "He's proving that he still has it. He's one of the elite players in our conference."
Randolph hit seven 3-pointers and was 8 of 8 from the line. He was 12 of 28 from the field.
"He made contested shots at NBA range," said Lakes coach Brian Phelan.
Sometimes, his shots were from even farther out. The only player who had any success at all defending Randolph was 6-foot-4 sophomore Marcell Kirkmanbey.
"I was feeling it," Randolph said. "I knew I would get yelled at, but I had to go for it."
Assistant Angelo DelGiudice coached Round Lake (5-16, 3-6) in Fisher's absence. He watched the Panthers overcome a 64-58 deficit midway through the fourth quarter when Randolph buried a pair of 3-pointers.
Down the stretch, Lakes (15-6, 7-2) had success getting the ball to Guirand in the post and letting him either shoot or pass.
"We threw the ball to Kevin and got out of the way," Phelan said with a smile. "He's strong as an ox in the post."
Lakes received a big break with 40 seconds left. Down 71-70, it appeared as if a foul was called on a Lakes player. But after a conference, the officials decided that Randolph fouled Lakes' John Androus first, which negated the second foul. Androus made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the score.
After a Round Lake turnovers, Lakes senior point guard Trey Williams had the ball at the top of the key with 12 seconds left. He drove through the lane, thanks in part to a Guirand screen, and made a layup for a 73-71 lead.
"Once (the lane) opened up like that I decided to finish it," said Williams, who scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half.
Round Lake was able to get the ball to Randolph at halfcourt, but three Lakes' players trapped and a fourth rotated over.
"We threw the sandwich at him," Phelan said.
Randolph passed the ball to John Martinez at the top of the key. He missed his shot, but Randolph secured the long rebound. His rushed jumper from inside the 3-point line bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
In addition to Randolph, senior Javier Martinez (16 points) came through with a big performance.
"Lakes is a great team, and we really wanted to get coach Fisher a win," Randolph said.
Lakes overcame a 19-8 deficit at the end of the first quarter. Guirand helped keep the Eagles in it by scoring their first 10 points.
In the second half, senior Dan Kalb hit a pair of 3-pointers. Kalb, 6-foot-3, began the year as a post player but now plays mostly on the perimeter. He finished with 16 points.
"I'm pretty comfortable shooting the 3-pointer," Kalb said. "I'm able to show more of my game."