Grayslake Central's win good, clean fun

Cameron Nelson soared and got his 5-foot-11 frame and right hand so high that he actually swatted C.J. Fiedorowicz's shot.

That's 6-6, University of Iowa-bound tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz, mind you, he of the NFL body.

Grayslake Central's fans cheered, but neither Nelson nor any of his teammates overreacted to his crowd-pleasing block. No players taunted each other. No player got in the face of another.

It was that kind of night, unlike like 11 months ago, when Johnsburg last played at Grayslake Central.

"I thought there'd be a little more trash-talking," Fiedorowicz said.

Turns out, the only fight was the one for first place in the Fox Valley Conference Fox Division. Grayslake Central prevailed Wednesday night, pulling out a 65-59 win in a game that was entertaining and, more importantly, clean.

Grayslake Central (11-6, 5-0) won its fifth straight, while handing Johnsburg (14-1, 2-1) its first loss of the season.

Last season's divisional showdown was marred by a fight late in the fourth quarter. Benches cleared and a player from each team was ejected.

Rams coach Brian Moe was confident a repeat was not going to happen.

"I had forgotten completely that we had the little feud on the sidelines with them last year," Moe said. "It's two totally different teams from last year and this year. We're all good kids."

Fiedorowicz, who led the Skyhawks with 18 points and 9 rebounds, had hardly forgotten what took place last February on Grayslake Central's court.

"They're one of our big rivals after all that stuff that happened last year, so we knew the game was going to be intense and the fans were going to be crazy," Fiedorowicz said. "There was probably a lot of people watching for that dirty stuff. Last year was something that doesn't really happen often."

Grayslake Central led 26-23 at halftime and built its lead to as many as 14 points midway through the third quarter, as Andrew Sipes scored 6 points, while Josh Rappaport (team-high 19 points, 8 rebounds) and Matt Murphy (12 points) each sank a 3-pointer.

The Rams took a 46-36 advantage into the fourth.

"We watched some game film on them, we ran through it in practice and we kind of knew what we wanted to do," said Sipes, who had another strong all-around game with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. "We wanted to work basically inside-out. When you do that, I think that's when it opens up perimeter shots."

Johnsburg made a couple of runs in the fourth, as four-year varsity guard Mike Dixon got going by scoring 7 of his 11 points. Fiedorowicz picked it up too, netting 8 points in the fourth.

Jordan Taylor stepped up for Grayslake Central.

After Dixon banked in a runner to pull the Skyhawks within 47-43, Taylor answered with a baseline drive.

After a Dixon 3 made it 59-54 with 1:13 left, Taylor sank 2 free throws. The sophomore finished with 8 points.

Johnsburg gets a chance for payback when it hosts Grayslake Central on Feb. 12.

"I think when we come back to their place it will be a much different effort and much different team that we face," Moe said. "I think we'll have our hands full."