Rams ready to roll

Most boys basketball teams in Lake County will be quiet this weekend, idle as they prepare for the start of the state tournament next week.

Not Grayslake Central.

The 19-6 Rams are in for a battle tonight as they hit the road to take on Huntley.

Both teams enter the game with identical 7-2 Fox Valley Conference Fox Division records. The winner takes all.

Or the Fox Division title, anyway.

"Our guys are pretty bright. They realize that anything can happen this time of year so I don't think they're coming in overconfident or anything like that," Grayslake Central coach Tim Bowen said. "But at the same time, they are confident. They know what they want and they're pretty focused."

A title of any kind hasn't been within Grayslake Central's reach for almost 10 years. The last time the Rams won the Fox Valley Conference title was in 1999.

Grayslake Central came close in 2005, but finished second to Lake Zurich. That year, the Rams finished with 20 wins and duplicated the feat in 2006.

Last year, Grayslake Central managed just a 9-18 record, but was starting mostly underclassmen like Andrew Sipes, Alex Anderson and Mike Brumm.

Now, the Rams are on the brink of their third 20-win season in four years.

"We're feeling pretty good about ourselves," Bowen said. "We placed (third) at the State Farm Classic over the holidays -- and that's a very competitive tournament. Plus, three of our six losses came to teams that were ranked in the top 10 in the state. And nine of our wins came against teams with plus-.500 records.

"We think we have a really good team and that we're in a really good spot right now."

Role reversal: In football, Kevin O'Rourke is used to starting, playing a lot of minutes and having the ball in his hands most of the time.

He is Grayslake Central's first-string quarterback, after all.

But basketball is a different story. Kind of.

O'Rourke comes off the bench for the Rams. But once again, he is playing a vital role for his team.

If there was a sixth-man-of-the-year award in the Fox Valley Conference, O'Rourke would be one of the leading candidates.

"We knew Kevin was a good player and a good athlete, but I think he surprised even us a little bit this year," Grayslake Central coach Tim Bowen said of his 6-foot-2 junior forward. "He's done a fantastic job for us off the bench. I love his energy and the way he's been playing."

O'Rourke had his first big game of the season against Sterling in the State Farm Classic over the holidays. He scored 12 points in that game.

Then, in a win over McHenry, he scored 14 points. He also came up big in the Rams' win over crosstown rival Grayslake North. He had 10 points in that game.

But as good as O'Rourke has been, Bowen doubts he'll move him into a starting role.

After all, he's been very happy with the play of starter Jared Zygmunt, a 6-foot-3 senior. And he kind of likes having such a force coming off the bench.

"Jared has kept this team together with his defense," Bowen said. "He's had some great games, too. And I really like what Kevin brings off the bench."

Tough stretch: Libertyville has been run ragged lately.

And in more ways than one.

Because of weather-related make-up games and quirks in the schedule, the Wildcats recently played seven games in 15 days.

But what made that stretch even more grueling was that they won only one of those games.

They finally got a win last weekend over South Elgin. Before that, they had lost to Warren, Zion-Benton, Glenbrook North, Barrington, Lake Zurich and Stevenson.

"That was a rough two weeks for us," Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil said. "If you play well, you don't mind playing all those games like that. But we really struggled."

More than anything, the Wildcats struggled to close out games.

They were tied with Warren late and lost, took Zion-Benton to overtime and lost and had a 7-point, fourth quarter lead over Glenbrook North and lost.

"It's frustrating," Bogumil said. "We're working hard, we're just not finishing plays and finishing games. It was nice to finally get a win (over South Elgin). It gave us a jump in our step that we can hopefully take into the tournament."

Looking ahead: One of the few teams to hang with Zion-Benton this season has been Libertyville.

The Wildcats took Zion-Benton, which is the No. 1 seed in the Barrington sectional, to overtime recently. And, as fate would have it, Libertyville would play Zion-Benton on Tuesday if it defeats Deerfield in its regional opener on Monday.

"Well, the good thing about possibly facing them again is that we certainly know them," Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil said. "Our game plan won't have to change much."

So what was that game plan? After all, most teams haven't stayed within double-digits of the Zee-Bees this season, let alone taken them to overtime.

"We were just really patient and limited their possessions," Bogumil said. "I think they got a little flustered for a while. But in the end, we threw the ball away and you can't do that against a team like that."

The last time out against Zion-Benton, 6-foot-6 Libertyville forward Greg Vente sprained his right ankle. Since then, he's missed four games, but should be back for a potential rematch.

Numbers game: Round Lake is in Class 4A, but missed the cutoff to be a Class 3A school by 80 students.

"I think we're the smallest 4A team," Round Lake coach Jeremy Fisher said. "This (the state tournament) is going to be a challenge for us."

But Fisher is looking forward to seeing how his team responds, particularly senior guard Vernon Randolph, who is averaging nearly 24 points per game and always seems to rise a challenge.

"Vernon's playing extremely well," Fisher said. "But it's not just his scoring that makes him a player people have to watch. He distributes the ball so well, too."

Randolph also leads the Panthers in assists with 5.1 per game.

"When he came to open gym for the first time, one of the first things I noticed is his pass-first mentality," Fisher said. "He really does a good job of finding his teammates and creating for them. And on top of that, he can shoot and score himself."

Road game: As a change of pace, and a way to fill several free days before the IHSA state tournament gets underway next week, the Lakes boys basketball team took to the stands on Wednesday.

The Eagles became the fans as they traveled up to a college game at Wisconsin-Whitewater. Assistant coach Jeff Tylka has some connections there since his cousin plays for the school's women's basketball team.

"We've had a nice season and we're looking forward to doing some team-building," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said last week. "I'm actually really looking forward to it. It's not often that I get to be a fan in the stands. I'm excited and I know the kids are, too."

In with the new: Prior to the season, everyone wondered how Lakes would be able to replace two cornerstone players in Sean Hertz and Chuck Kempf.

The two all-conference players who are now playing sports in college had helped build Lakes into a force in just the second year of the new school's existence.

Obviously, having standout veteran Kevin Guirand return was key for Lakes. But adding a new star to the mix has been just as important.

Freshman guard John Androus has given the Eagles quite a lift this season. He's averaging about 9 points per game and has started every game but one -- and that game he was sick.

"John has just exceeded expectations," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said. "He's fit in really well in our lineup, and actually, he can play all five positions. He has that kind of versatility and basketball IQ.

"Plus, he's a great shooter. He's done a lot of great things this season."