CL Central turns back Grayslake North
Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh knew it was coming, and the worst part was, the Knights couldn’t stop it.
Earlier this season when the Knights defeated Crystal Lake Central 59-56, the Tigers were unable to use their size and inside presence to take down Grayslake. On Friday night in a key Fox Valley Conference Fox Division contest, the Tigers went inside and rarely came back out.
Senior Matt Gleixner was a big force inside all night for the Tigers as the hosts clinched a tie for the FVC Fox title with a 71-49 rout of the Knights. Oddly, it was a big 3-pointer by the 6-foot-7 Gleixner that provided one of many shots in the arms for Central.
As time ran down in the first half, Gleixner found himself in an unusual spot. With time running out, Gleixner was all alone outside the 3-point arc. He fired up a long 3-pointer just before the horn sounded and the shot hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
Central (19-4, 9-1) didn’t really need the extra boost as the Tigers took a 35-23 lead into the locker room, but it certainly didn’t hurt either.
“That was definitely a lot of fun,” said Gleixner, who led all scorers with 24 points. “I usually don’t get to take shots like that, but it was there so I took it.”
While the Tigers were red-hot from the field in the first half, Grayslake North (16-6, 8-3) couldn’t find the bucket. Senior leading scorer Teddy Ludwick was one of the cold Knights as he was held scoreless in the first half for the first time this season.
“I really felt fine with my shot,” Ludwick said. “I was going to the bucket and getting looks, they just wouldn’t fall.”
While Ludwick struggled to find his shot, sophomore AJ Fish was just fine — and it’s a good thing for the Knights he was. Fish scored 15 of his team-best 23 points in the first half to keep the visitors within striking distance.
“If it wasn’t for AJ in the first half we would have been down a lot more,” Grunloh said. “But I am proud of these guys for the kind of resiliency they showed.”
That resiliency brought the Knights back early in the fourth quarter. Ludwick began to heat up as he scored 6 of his 11 points in the final quarter. His running layup with 6:48 left in the game cut the margin to 53-45. But that’s as close as the Knights got.
“This was a game that was won by our players,” said Central coach Rich Czeslawski. “The kids knew what they needed to do to get the win and they did.”
Balance among the Tigers proved to be too much as Central had two other players hit double figures. Joe Pijanowski scored 10 points while junior guard Chase Cane added 12.