Vernon Hills sprints to win over Round Lake

Sprints.

The word is like nails on a chalkboard to most athletes.

For coaches, it's a great motivator, which is what Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty was looking for prior to Friday's game at Round Lake.

"I may have said something like that," McCarty chuckled, referring to the dreaded "S" word. "We did some various motivational techniques to keep them focused only on Round Lake."

With a pivotal tilt against North Suburban Prairie Division rival and Lake County heavyweight North Chicago looming on Saturday, McCarty worried that his team might look ahead.

"We just told them that we've got to get a win tonight against Round Lake or tomorrow night (against North Chicago) won't mean as much," McCarty said. "I thought our kids had a lot of respect for Round Lake. They've got some good players on that team and we did a really good job of not overlooking them."

With a 65-51 victory over Round Lake on the road, the Cougars take a 3-1 Prairie Division record (12-3 overall) into tonight's North Chicago game (7:30 p.m. at Vernon Hills). A victory over North Chicago, which is undefeated in division play, would move Vernon Hills into a tie for first place in the standings.

"North Chicago is a big game for us and we're really looking forward to it," said Vernon Hills junior forward DaVaris Daniels, who tied Round Lake's Jon Martinez and Juddon Carter for game-high scoring honors with 17 points. "Beating them would mean a lot for our program. It's a step in the right direction. Those guys play some pretty good basketball."

Very good, in fact.

Beating North Chicago, which won the Class 3A sectional last season, will be no small task. The Cougars haven't done it since-

"January 13, 2007," McCarty said without hesitation. "That was the four overtime game at our place. Tommy Bahnick, who is now an assistant coach for us, hit a three-pointer at the buzzer and we won by three points.

"We're looking forward to it. They've kind of had our number, everybody's number, really, for a while. It should be a fun atmosphere."

The Cougars were able to enjoy themselves for most of their visit to Round Lake.

They extended an 8-point halftime lead to 15 points (43-28) four minutes into the third quarter on 3-pointers by Chris Argianas and Daniels, who tallied 4 three-pointers on the game.

But Round Lake (2-12, 2-3 Prairie) was able to get back into the game with a strong end to the quarter and a push at the beginning of the fourth.

Jake Paulsen led the way with a three-point play in the third and quick, back-to-back baskets at the beginning of the fourth. That helped cut Vernon Hills' lead to just 6 points, 50-44 with about six minutes left.

But Vernon Hills closed out the game by outscoring Round Lake, 15-7.

"During timeouts (in the second half), we were talking to each other a lot, trying to motivate each other to play hard," said Martinez, who drained 2 three-pointers for Round Lake. "Earlier, we were kind of putting our heads down because we were losing. But we just said, 'Don't let the scoreboard mess with you.' We were able to stay in the game."

Balance helped the Panthers, who also got 13 points from Paulsen.

But Vernon Hills was just as balanced. Three players (Daniels, Chris Morgan, 15 points and Brandon Curry, 12 points) scored in double figures and Argianas finished with 9 points.

"I'm really proud of our kids because we're competing," Round Lake coach Howard Kravets said. "I mean, last year we lost to Vernon Hills by like 28 points at their place. It wasn't even close.

"This was a very, very good Vernon Hills team again and we cut their lead to 6 in the fourth. But it just seemed like every crucial possession down the stretch was a turnover for us, every loose ball went through our hands. We just couldn't get over the hump."