Struggling Round Lake loses top scorer Paulsen
Who knew it would be such a fleeting moment?
After 2 wins in a row back in early December, things were looking up for the Round Lake boys basketball team. It was the first time in years that Round Lake had started out 2-0 in the North Suburban Prairie Division.
But since then, the Panthers have been on a tight downward spiral.
They've lost 12 games in a row, including a 40-point blowout to North Chicago on Tuesday, their most recent defeat.
And if that wasn't enough, Round Lake is now without its leading scorer and rebounder.
On Monday, second-year head coach Howard Kravets found out that Jake Paulsen has decided to quit the team. Paulsen, a junior forward who had started on the varsity last year as a sophomore, had been averaging nearly a double-double, 14 points and 9 rebounds per game.
"He decided that he didn't want to be a part of the team," Kravets said. "He wasn't happy with the discipline or playing time he was receiving."
Paulsen was disciplined during last weekend's loss to Antioch for on-court behavior Kravets deemed detrimental to the team. Paulsen wound up sitting the bench for most of the game.
"He didn't like that," Kravets said. "But he was being disrespectful to his teammates and coaches and to the officials. I just told him I'm not going to tolerate that."
Kravets said the door isn't closed for Paulsen. If he'd like to come back next season for his senior year, he'd be welcome, given a change in attitude.
In the meantime, Kravets regrets Paulsen is missing opportunities to strut his stuff during that all-important junior season. In terms of college recruiting, junior season is a crucial time for any player.
"This is a shame because Jake can be a really good player, a college player," Kravets said. "He's a 6-foot-3 lefty who can shoot and post and play really good defense when he wants to. If he's able to work on his attitude, he could be a Division III kid. If he really works, I think he could even be a low Division I kid."
Going-away present: Maybe Lakes coach Brian Phelan should have gone public with his resignation weeks ago.
The Eagles, who learned recently that their coach would be stepping down at the end of the season in order to spend more time with his family, have won the two games they've played since the news broke, including a big upset over Vernon Hills last week.
"That was a really big win for us," Phelan said. "We weren't expected to win."
Phelan then downplayed the connection between his announcement and his team's inspired play.
"It got out (into the media) just before the Vernon Hills game, but my team knew the weekend before that," Phelan said. "We're actually 2-2 since I told them. We were (at a Martin Luther King tournament in Galesburg) and I sat them down and told them. Then we hit a buzz saw and lost our next two games."
Something special: It took five years, but it was worth the wait.
The Lakes basketball team, which completed its first varsity season in 2006, finally got a signature win.
A 52-43 win last week over Vernon Hills, which is in the hunt for the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division title, is the kind of win that acts as a cornerstone of any good foundation.
"I was telling my assistants after the game that we've played really good teams in the past, like Stevenson and Buffalo Grove. We've come close to beating teams like that, but we never have. We've never had a big win like the one we got against Vernon Hills," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said. "Even when we won 20 games a few years ago, we still lost the big games to teams like Lake Forest and Lake Zurich.
"Vernon Hills is a really, really good team this year and we've never gotten that kind of win that can really set the direction for the rest of the season. Beating Vernon Hills felt like that kind of win."
So what did the Eagles do against Vernon Hills that made such a difference?
Nothing. Well, at least not during the game.
Phelan said the difference came at practice the day before.
"We had a great practice, probably our best all year," Phelan said. "The kids were so focused. They worked hard every single drill. There were no let-ups.
"Afterwards, I talked about how that was going to carry over into the game and it really did. We started the game with good energy and we played really well on defense. We had one of our better defensive games of the year. Overall, we played the best we've played all year."
Tough on Tanner: Sophomores will be sophomores.
Sometimes.
Sophomore Tanner Blain didn't waste any time taking advantage of his promotion to the Lakes varsity squad back in mid-December.
In his first game, he started and scored 10 points. He then had a couple of 17- and 18-point games. Things were looking good.
But now Blain is doing what many sophomores do. He's slumping. You've heard of it: the 'Sophomore Slump.'
"Tanner was doing great and then lately, he's really been struggling with his shooting," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said. "It started around our Martin Luther King Day tournament. Then, he had only 2 points against Vernon Hills.
"He likes to shoot threes and usually he hits a lot of them, but he just hit a stretch where nothing seemed to be falling."
Blain's reaction?
Not what Phelan would expect from a sophomore.
"He had a great quote, he was like, 'Coach, I know I'm not shooting well. I'll just work hard and try to play really good defense,'" Phelan said. "To have that kind of maturity, it's like, 'Wow!' I've been really impressed, and Tanner has been very active on defense. Even though he's struggled offensively, Tanner has continued to be a big factor for us just by playing really tough defense."
Back on track: Question: How does a shooter gone cold get hot again?
Answer: He or she keeps shooting.
That was the logic Lakes coach Brian Phelan used Tuesday when he sent sophomore Tanner Blain to the line to shoot a pair of technical foul free throws against Wauconda.
Usually, senior superstar John Androus gets the call, but Blain has been in a shooting slump and Phelan figured his young sophomore could use a couple more touches with the ball.
"You know, you're up there with no one around you and I just thought that might be a good way to help Tanner with his shot," Phelan said. "He made them both. Maybe it helped."
Blain, who is averaging about 9 points per game, scored 7 points against Wauconda after scoring just 2 points against Vernon Hills in the game before.
The added points from Blain were nice, but, for Phelan, perhaps the best part of the night was Androus' reaction to being replaced at the line.
"He said, 'I understand, Coach,'" Phelan said. "John said that he knew we needed to get Tanner going and that we needed his offense if we were going to be (a threat) in the (state) tournament. I thought that was a really mature reaction to have."
Game change: It will be a quiet weekend for the Lakes boys basketball team, which will be idle both Friday and Saturday.
The Eagles were supposed to play arch-rival Antioch but when the floor in Antioch's gym was damaged recently because of flooding, the game was moved to February 22 with the hope that the floor will be repaired by then.
With the move, Lakes will be off 10 days between its next game against North Chicago and its most recent game, a victory over Wauconda on Tuesday.
"Antioch played a home game against Wauconda recently but they played it in their back gym," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said. "I guess the thought with our game is that it draws so many fans that the back gym wouldn't be big enough. That back gym probably holds about 400 people."
Phelan says that most Antioch-Lakes games bring in between 1,500 to 1,800 fans.
"We don't like having so much time between games, but we absolutely want to play our game against Antioch in a big gym, so we'll wait until February 22," said Phelan, who noted there will be no sophomore game on the new game night, which is a Monday. "I'm past the whole rivalry thing, but I do really like the atmosphere and the environment that comes with every game we play against Antioch. People really get into it. It's a really fun game.
"I wish every game we played was like it."
On the Mark: What a role-reversal for Stevenson guard Mark Swanson.
Last year as a junior he got about a minute or two of playing time when the Patriots needed to pop a quick three-pointer.
Now, he's a central figure in Stevenson's 13-6 campaign, which includes a win on Tuesday over Lake Forest, a team that tied for first place in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division.
This season, Swanson has started every game and is averaging about 8 points per game. Not bad for a low-scoring team that typically has only one double-figure scorer (Nate Johnson).
"There has been such a change in Mark from last year," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. "I mean, this is a kid who just worked so hard over the summer. The weight room became his best friend, he also worked and worked on his shot."
In fact, Swanson is still working on his shot.
Last weekend, Swanson didn't have the best shooting night in a loss to Zion-Benton. But he was determined to get his touch back as quickly as possible.
"There was Mark in the gym early on Saturday morning shooting with our assistant coach, Brent Mork," Ambrose said. "He's such a great kid, who is just so positive and he loves basketball so much. It's obvious he has such a passion for it and the other guys see that. I think that's part of the reason Mark was voted team captain. Everyone loves him and how positive and passionate he always is."
Still in it: Stevenson is fresh off its win on Tuesday over Lake Forest, which means that there's still hope.
The Patriots are behind Lake Forest and Zion-Benton in the North Suburban Lake Division standings but have split with both teams.
Having also lost to Libertyville, Stevenson owns a 6-3 division record and could possibly contend for the Lake Division crown by winning out and getting some help with a Zion-Benton or Lake Forest stub of the toe.
"We're just trying to fly under the radar," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. "That's the Stevenson motto this year. We just want to be slow and steady and hopefully we'll win the race in the end."