Pucher, Grayslake N. make the cut vs. Wauconda

Grayslake North's Matt Pucher would rather be in your face on the basketball court.

So he made a decision about that long, floppy hair that was in his face.

He got it cut. Short.

At the end of last school year, he also got both ears pierced.

"He's a little quicker now apparently with all that hair gone," Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh joked.

Apparently so.

The new-look Pucher - who's also sporting some short whiskers under his chin - and his teammates proved plenty annoying to Wauconda in the teams' opening game of the Johnsburg/Richmond-Burton Thanksgiving tournament in Richmond on Tuesday night.

Pucher scored a game-high 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting to lead Grayslake North to a season-opening, 66-29 win.

The Knights' 5-foot-10 senior point guard also had 7 rebounds, 4 steals and several assists.

"The (long) hair was getting annoying in basketball," Pucher said. "I like (the shorter hair) a lot better."

Wauconda played without its best perimeter shooter, senior Matt Stonis, who chipped bone in his ankle during the team's scrimmage last week and is expected to miss the entire tournament.

After a sluggish start by both teams, Grayslake North's trapping defense pestered Wauconda into 6 first-quarter turnovers and seven more by halftime.

Grayslake North scored the last eight points of the opening quarter to lead 8-5. The Knights then outscored the Bulldogs 20-8 in the second quarter, as Pucher drained 5 shots, including his lone 3-pointer.

Neither team scored until Wauconda's Kyle Ryan sank a pull-up jumper with 4:48 left in the first quarter. Ryan (team-high 10 points) then hit a 3 to make it 5-0.

Grayslake North didn't make a basket until center Michael Verwijst buried a 14-footer with nearly five minutes gone.

"It doesn't matter how much you practice," Grunloh said. "Those first few minutes you're just trying to put a pass together and stay alive. It was just nerves. We have a lot of guys coming back, but at the same time, it's a new feel about it. We have a more up-tempo defense trying to create turnovers and transition."

Grayslake North's defense was active all night with junior guard Teddy Ludwick (6 steals) and Pucher leading the way.

"We know that's how we're going to win games - with defense," Pucher said.

Senior guard Chris Nicolosi added 10 points for the Knights, and Myles Siemsen chipped in 9 points and 6 rebounds.

Wauconda committed 25 turnovers and never got into its flex offense.

"Fundamentals," Bulldogs first-year coach Scott Luetschwager said. "Hustling back on defense and keeping guys out of the middle, we just didn't do it. And we were very sloppy with our passes. We weren't able to handle the pressure."