Vernon Hills downs Lakes

The home team didn't quite get enough homecourt bounces Friday night.

But maybe that's because Lakes was the home team in name only in a North Suburban Conference Prairie Division clash against Vernon Hills at Antioch.

Because a moisture problem ruined some hardwood and left behind some mold on their real homecourt, the Eagles have had to make the gym at sister school Antioch their home for the last week.

They say they're starting to settle in.

And yet, for the most part, it was Vernon Hills that looked the most comfortable on the Sequoits' turf.

Vernon Hills rushed out to a 16-5 first-quarter lead, withstood a Lakes rally that tied the game at the end of the third quarter and then blew the door off by outscoring Lakes by 15 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 59-44 victory.

The win moves Vernon Hills to 13-9 overall and 7-2 in the Prairie Division. Lakes drops to 11-13 and 7-4.

"There was the color difference (Antioch's colors are cardinal and gray and Lakes' colors are royal blue and red)," Vernon Hills guard Chris Morgan said. "But that was really the only thing different about playing them here."

Indeed, Morgan didn't seem the least bit thrown off by the venue change. In just his second game back from a nasty mouth injury in which his bottom front four teeth were nearly knocked out, causing him to miss two games, Morgan scored a game-high 19 points, including 9 in the Cougars' big fourth-quarter.

"We'll play wherever," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty echoed. "We've actually done pretty well in this gym. That's what I talked about before the game, about turning (the venue change) into a positive. This is our fourth straight win here."

The streak looked like it might be in jeopardy when star guard DaVaris Daniels picked up his fourth foul with 2:38 left in the third quarter. With Daniels on the bench, Lakes tied up the score at 33 by the end of the period.

But Vernon Hills quickly dashed the Eagles' hopes by opening the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run, even with Daniels still on the bench.

Morgan had 5 points over that stretch.

"Chris had some real key baskets for us," McCarty said. "We were kind of stagnant there for a little bit and he stepped up and made some shots. That was the difference."

Lakes wouldn't go away and cut its deficit to 46-42 with 2:20 left in the game. But Vernon Hills closed with a 13-2 run, mainly on free throws by Riaz Hoveydai and Daniels, who finished with 18 and 12 points respectively.

"We just couldn't get enough stops there at the end," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said. "But I was proud that we worked so hard to get back in the game."

Sophomore Nate McMahon, who was just recently promoted from the sophomore team with classmate Nick Hibbing, provided Lakes' biggest spark during its rally. He hit all four shots that he took in the second quarter to get the ball rolling. He finished with a career-high 12 points, mostly on baseline jumpers.

Guard John Androus also had 12 points for the Eagles.

"Coach was telling me that the short corner was open all day," McMahon said. "We've been practicing that shot all week, the short corner. We needed a spark and I thought I could give it to us (with that shot)."