Paulsen, Panthers prevail

When asked to confirm that his last name ends in "-son," Round Lake's promising sophomore basketball talent said yes, before quickly correcting himself.

It's, in fact, Jake Paulsen, who at least has "O" in his game.

Get used to the name.

"He's young. He doesn't know how to spell his own name," Panthers coach Howard Kravets joked, smiling at his rising star.

Paulsen and Round Lake's improving team continued their maturation Monday night and this time were rewarded with a victory. In a battle of one-win squads, the Panthers prevailed over visiting Antioch 56-48 in a North Suburban Prairie Division contest that proved physical.

While holding Antioch (1-3 NSC Prairie) scoreless the final three minutes of the game, Round Lake (2-12, 1-4) went 7 of 8 from the foul line down the stretch to secure its second win in its last four games.

"I think the most important thing about this game is that we found a way to win in the last few minutes," said Kravets, whose team was coming off a 1-point loss to Grant. "That's been the M.O. of our team the last month - we've come close, we haven't quite gotten over the top. We stuck with it. We didn't panic. We made some adjustments against their zone, and we did a good job on the boards. It was a football game down there."

Paulsen was active at both ends, scoring a game-high 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds. The 6-foot-4 forward didn't start and had only 2 points in the first half.

"It didn't really make a difference (coming off the bench)," Paulsen said. "I just knew I had to go out and play hard, do what my coach asked and help out my teammates as best as I could."

Kravets credited Antioch for Paulsen's quiet opening two quarters.

"Jake is a very talented player," Kravets said. "Antioch did a nice job the first half of taking his drive away. He was really forcing it the first half. He's got a nice jumper, but he's 15 years old and he wants to go to the hole all the time. In the second half he was a lot more under control, he was catching and facing, and we also got him the ball in better spots.

"He's very good (in the lane)," Kravets added. "He's key for us."

Paulsen scored 11 points in the third quarter, but Antioch countered with Cameron White and Chris Terzic and led 41-40 entering the final quarter. White and Terzic scored 7 and 4 points, respectively, in the third, while Kyle Melton hit a 3-pointer.

White's second 3 of the night put Antioch up 47-45 with 3:42 left, but that was the Sequoits' last field goal.

In the final 1:24, Round Lake got 3 free throws from Jeff Nicoline and a pair apiece from Paulsen and John Martinez (18 points, 5 rebounds).

"I was just making my shots, really," Paulsen said of his big second half. "My teammates were looking for me. They had confidence in me."

David Windham had 7 points and 11 rebounds for the Panthers.

White led Antioch in scoring with 15 points. Eric Smith added 12 points and 15 rebounds, and Terzic finished with 9 points.