Bears break free at end

For 27 minutes, the Lake Zurich and Hersey boys basketball teams were never separated by more than 6 points.

In act, there were many times when the two teams exchanged leads on every possession.

Then, all of sudden, Lake Zurich seemed to say enough is enough.

With the score even at 53, senior guard Chas. Evans tossed home a 3-pointer with 4:24 left in the game to start a game-winning 10-0 rally.

Holding the Huskies to just 1 field goal the rest of the way (with 12.5 seconds left), the Bears posted a 63-55 victory in the nonconference game at the Carter Gym in Arlington Heights.

After his 3-pointer, Evans added 2 free throws, followed by 2 free throws by Connor Mooney (game-high 26 points) and a tip-in and free throw by 6-foot-6 Brandon Kunz to complete the 10-0 run with 43 seconds left in the game.

"The most important thing is that we're trying to get ready for the state tournament," said Evans, who finished with 10 points. "Coach (John Zarr) definitely made it a point to us that we should make a statement in this game which could help us in the seedings."

Mooney sure made a statement in the first half, when he scored 21 points. The senior guard had 5 3-pointers in the 16 minutes, including 4 in the second quarter.

"People at the game don't realize it, but he can do that," Evans added. "When we're practicing transition, he'll make like seven or eight in a row. He shot the heck out of the ball in the first half."

"He can do that," said Zarr, whose club (11-12) has won three straight. "He can take off on you in a hurry. The kids were looking for him on the perimeter and did a nice job finding him. He owes a lot of that to his teammates."

Hersey (8-13) was led by Kyle Miklasz (15 points), Ryan Fox (13), Kyle Mengarelli (12) and Demitriy Velikov (8). Mengarelli had 3 3-pointers while Kyle Miklasz and Velikov each had two.

"Kyle Miklasz (11 points) had a strong first half," said Hersey coach Steve Messer. "I was happy with each player at some point, but we didn't have one good all-around effort for the game."We had a better team effort on (Mooney) in the second half."

Senior Danny Coleman added 10 points for the Bears while Aaron Lewandowski chipped in 6.

During its game-ending rally, Lake Zurich had two key defensive plays when Evans and Kunz each drew charging fouls.

"That says something about Brandon (Kunz, who had 11 blocked shots in the Bears' win over Grant Friday night)," Zarr said. "That's why we know we need him on the floor."