End run gives Cary-Grove edge over Lakes
Three quarters of give-and-take taught the Cary-Grove boys basketball team what was working against visiting Lakes and what wasn't.
After the Eagles pulled within 44-37 at the end of the third quarter on senior guard Chris Boehm's 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Trojans emphasized their inside game in the final period, using a high-post rub offense to outscore Lakes 20-4 and pull away for a 64-41 nonconference victory.
"We went to our four-high offense in the fourth quarter, which can either be a layup or bust," said Cary-Grove senior forward Brandon Coleman, who finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds. "But that was pretty good that we didn't have any shots from further away than six feet of the basket."
"In the first half almost everything we scored was in the lane," Trojans coach Ralph Schuetzle said. "Then we started settling for outside shots with a foot on the (3-point) line. But they couldn't defend us on back cuts."
Cary-Grove (10-5) opened the fourth quarter on a 10-0 run, thanks to 2 inside baskets by Coleman and 3 straight buckets by junior forward Chad McCarron, who finished with a game-high 14 points.
"They really picked it up in the fourth quarter," Lakes senior forward Marcell KirkmanBey said. "We tried to match them, but it didn't happen. We missed a lot of open shots and it kind of got out of our hands."
After he scored 12 of his team's 15 points in the first quarter, Cary-Grove senior guard Chris Swenson settled into the role of playmaker. Five of the Trojans' 7 fourth-quarter field goals were assisted, three of them by Swenson with interior bounce passes. In all, five Trojans scored between 8 and 14 points in a balanced attack for a team that won its third straight game and fourth in five tries.
"With us it doesn't matter who scores," Swenson said. "We all have the same mentality: team basketball. It's exciting when you work together to score rather than when one person takes over. I was especially important because there was really no crowd here, so we couldn't feed off that energy."
The Trojans stretched their 4-point lead after a quarter to 30-21 at the half, mainly because they were able to hold Lakes (4-10) to 3 field goals while causing 6 of the Eagles' 23 turnovers.
Cary-Grove also held Lakes junior guard John Androus (6-foot-5) to 6 points on 1 field goal after he scored 13 and 16 points, respectively, in his last two outings. KirkmanBey, who scored 16 points in a victory over Wauconda last Wednesday, was held to 1 field goal and 3 points.
A group of defenders that included Matt Nelsen, Ryan Barker, Swenson and senior forward Kevin Adams took turns hounding Androus.
"It was a pretty physical game, and we weren't matching up very well with them," KirkmanBey said."
The Eagles were held to 14-of-40 shooting (35 percent). Scott led Lakes with 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and junior Tyler Swindle added 8 points.
Guards Pete Pellizari and Matt Jones each tallied 8 points for Cary-Grove.