Wauconda, Knights win again
Balanced scoring helped Wauconda's boys basketball team win its second straight game.
Eric Hartnett scored 15 points to lead three players in double figures, as the Bulldogs edged host Richmond-Burton 59-57 Friday night as part of the Richmond-Burton/Johnsburg tournament.
The finals are tonight at Johnsburg.
Gibson Gaite and Bradon Prate added 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Wauconda (2-1, 2-1), while Kyle Ryan and Matt Stonis added 9 apiece. Ryan sank three 3-pointers. Gaite hit a pair.
Grayslake North 63, Harvard 39: At Richmond-Burton, the Knights improved to 3-0.
Grayslake North will play host Johnsburg at 7:30 p.m. today for the championship of the Richmond-Burton/Johnsburg tournament.
Hononegah 72, Lake Zurich 64: At Belvidere, the Bears suffered their first loss of the season.
Brandon Kunz led Lake Zurich (2-1) with 20 points. Connor Mooney added 17 (four 3-pointers) and Chas Evans had 11.
Vernon Hills 43, Northridge Prep 39: At Northridge Prep, Riaz Hoveydai scored 18 points, hitting five 3-pointes, for the Cougars.
Jefferson 56, Grayslake Central 55: At Mundelein, the Rams received 15 points apiece from Mike Brumm and Josh Rappaport.
Waukegan 73, Fremd 48: People say defense wins championships. It obviously played a part Friday night for host Waukegan, as the Bulldogs' 'D' overwhelmed Fremd in a 73-48 win.
From the beginning of the game, the Bulldogs came out in multiple defensive schemes. They recorded 9 of their 15 steals in the first half.
Waukegan (2-0) jumped out to an 11-0 lead.
Senior Collin Nickerson, who's committed to Fairfield University, was the high scorer with 21 points, 16 coming in the second half. Junior Jerome Richmond, who's committed to University of Illinois, added 13.
"You always got to come out strong and always got to pick it up like practice," Nickerson said. "We have great chemistry because we've been playing together since we were in like fourth grade."
"They did a nice job with pressure and we didn't handle it well," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said.
The Vikings (0-2) will play Bartlett (0-2) at 4:30 p.m. today, while Waukegan will take on Warren (2-0) for the championship at 6 p.m.
Waukegan led Fremd 51-28 after three quarters.
"I am very happy with the effort we put into this game," Bulldogs coach Ron Aslaw said. "Richmond is showing a lot of potential and (Aaron) Johnson had 4 rebounds being a small guard. We did a much better job handling the basketball. I haven't seen a team with so much potential while sharing the ball and being so unselfish."
- Jonathan Jones