Lake Forest holds off Mundelein 84-66
An early lead for Mundelein's boys basketball team lasted for just a minute. Then North Suburban Lake Division leader Lake Forest took over comfortably, building a 28-point lead.
The Mustangs put a scare into the host Scouts in the final quarter only to fall 84-66 on Saturday night in Lake Forest.
Mitch Hopfinger scored a career-best and game-high 28 points with 9 rebounds to lead Lake Forest. Michigan-bound Matt Vogrich and Kevin Berardini both added 19 points.
"I was pretty fortunate to have a game like that," Hopfinger said. "My teammates did a great job finding me."
Vogrich currently sits 16 points shy of the school scoring record set by Rob Pelinka, a 1986 Lake Forest graduate and a former Michigan standout.
Lake Forest (16-3, 8-1) earned its eighth straight victory, and coupled with Warren's loss to Stevenson holds a 2-game cushion over Zion-Benton and the Blue Devils in the Lake race.
Mundelein (9-13, 1-7) trailed Lake Forest 66-38 starting the fourth quarter. The Mustangs scored 13 straight unanswered points on the hot shooting from Tyler Piasecki, who had 11 of his 14 points, including three treys, during a 23-5 run. Mundelein trailed 71-61 with three minutes left.
"We cut it to 10 and that was impressive to me," Mundelein coach Dick Knar said. "We didn't quit and we played with the emotional energy we need to play.
"I'm the type of coach who plays until the horn sounds. We practice these situations all the time. We thought we still had time left."
The Mustangs couldn't keep the energy going in the final minutes as the Scouts outscored them 13-5.
"Mundelein made a great run," Lake Forest coach Phil LaScala said. "Mundelein is a team that's very streaky and never stops. I give a lot of credit to the coaching staff and the kids.
"You would think a 28-point lead would be safe. Our kids didn't stop playing, but they stopped using their heads. We need to do a better job playing smarter basketball."
Mundelein's Leavon Head started the game with a 3-pointer ended up with a career-best and team-high 19 points. Ryan Sawvell added 10 points and 8 rebounds.