Kirk lifts Schaumburg past Lake Park

Schaumburg's Johnny Kirk played Tuesday night's non-conference boys basketball game against visiting Lake Park wearing a nylon arm brace.

"At the Rockford (Boylan) Tournament over the weekend I fell and hurt my elbow," said Kirk. "I thought the brace would help keep it tight and I did. I think by Friday I might not need it."

Kirk may want to have second thoughts.

The junior guard scored 15 points, including four 3-pointers at crucial times, as the Saxons improved to 4-1 with a 64-53 win.

Trailing 6-4, Schaumburg tied the game before Joe Infusino's only basket, a 3-pointer, gave the Saxons the lead for good at 9-6.

Lake Park (3-2) pulled within one moments later on Greg Whetsel's steal and score.

Kirk then popped in a 3. After Josh Walker's (9 points) two free throws, Kirk finished the quarter with a basket to build a 16-8 lead.

Kirk again helped stave off a Lancers' charge with a 3 after they closed to 18-12.

The third 3 led to a 9-0 run with 5:20 left to make a 28-24 lead swell to 37-24.

Lake Park made one last run to pull within 53-45 with 2:32 left before Kirk nailed his fourth 3.

"It's been a lot of fun starting," said Kirk. "We've really been working hard as a team. We knew we had to stop their running game in order to win this. Our chemistry is getting better every game."

Senior forward Glenn Frost equaled Kirk's 15 points and 5 rebounds. Declan Geraghty and Javon McDonald each added 8 points.

The Lancers were led by Dominique Spencer's 10 points and 8 rebounds. Nick Zanghi garnered 8 points.

"Their defense just took us out of our game," said Lake Park coach Josh Virostko. "They put pressure on us with their defense. It's hard to play catchup against Schaumburg.

"But, our kids didn't quit. We made some nice runs at them. When we got close we had some breakdowns."

Schaumburg coach Matt Walsh liked the defensive effort and improved play.

"I'm very proud of their effort," said Walsh. "Game experience to this group is huge. We're learning game by game. This is going to be a team that will improve each game as the season goes on.

"We had to stop their transition game. The way to stop it was to play good defense and execute on offense, which we did."