Lakes' second-half press sinks Round Lake

Applying pressure at the right time made all the difference as Lakes' boys basketball team soared to its fourth victory in its last six games on Saturday night.

The Eagles took advantage of a rash of Round Lake turnovers in the third quarter and pulled away to a 59-48 victory over the host Panthers in a North Suburban Prairie Division make-up of a game orginally scheduled for Dec. 19.

John Androus led Lakes with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Mike Scott (5 steals) and Marcell Kirkman Bey both chipped in with 10 points off the bench

Lakes (4-8, 2-1) led 32-31 midway through the third quarter when the press disrupted Round Lake (1-11, 0-3).

"We put the press on and brought it to (Round Lake)," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said.. "Kids went after the loose balls. Things just go your way when you work hard. We made a couple of steals and made couple of shots."

Androus started the Eagles' run of 13-3 with a layup and rebound putback, and Lakes opened up a 45-34 advantage going into the final quarter.

"We got a lot of steals, layups and free throws," said Androus, who was 7-for-8 from the foul line. "It was close for the most part. I thought we had to step up defensively and make some plays. We got a nice trap going and guys set up in good positions."

Andrew Flick helped out during the run with a couple steals and also hit a well-timed 3-pointer.

"We hadn't been pressuring (Round Lake) too well," Flick said. "I usually come in to give a spark. I guard the shooter, but I can scramble a lot. It all helped out."

Lakes held on to a double-digit lead through the fourth quarter.

The Panthers led 21-13 in the second quarter after a 10-point spurt during which Jake Paulson (15 points) made a layup with 3:58 left.

The Eagles responded with a 12-2 run and took a 25-23 lead into halftime.

Round Lake stayed close early in the third quarter, trading baskets with Lakes until the Eagles took the game over with pressure defense.

"We just stopped defending in the third quarter," Round Lake coach Howard Kravets said " We have to learn to play defense consistently for 32 minutes. We're not there yet, but we're definitely improving.

"I'm not sure if (Lakes') pressure bothered us. We did have a lot of turnovers. We just have to make better decisions."

Lennox Davis added 14 points and 5 rebounds for the Panthers.