Vernon Hills earns chance at 'big game'
The students at Vernon Hills High School meant well. But they really didn't do the boys basketball team any favors.
Shirts were made and sold this week at school to hype the Cougars' big game on Saturday against North Chicago. A win against the first-place Warhawks could give Vernon Hills at least a piece of the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division title. It would be the first such title for the Cougars in school history.
But what the students were forgetting is that Vernon Hills was scheduled to play at Round Lake on Friday. A loss there would make Saturday's game against North Chicago a moot point.
"Those t-shirts said 'Beat North Chicago,'" Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. "I was saying that I wish they had said 'Beat Round Lake.'
"As coaches, we didn't talk about North Chicago all week. But everybody else was. I told the kids that the (Round Lake game) would not be an easy game for us because all of their friends were talking about North Chicago and when you're a kid, it's not easy to focus on something else."
For a while, the Cougars proved their coach's fears correct.
Vernon Hills started off sluggish, while Round Lake was just the opposite.
But the Cougars managed to shake off a 10-point first-quarter deficit and an 8-point halftime deficit in time to keep that North Chicago game tonight meaningful.
Vernon Hills used a big third-quarter to power its way to a 43-37 North Suburban Prairie Division victory over Round Lake.
Vernon Hills, which outscored the Panthers 20-4 in the third quarter, improves to 15-7 overall and 9-2 in the Prairie. Round Lake drops to 5-17 overall and 3-8 in the Prairie.
"It was (Round Lake's) senior night, they were fired up and they had a lot of fans. They got off to a great start and we weren't ready for it at first," Vernon Hills senior forward DaVaris Daniels said. "We had a lot to overcome, but luckily we did.
"We've got a big game coming up (against North Chicago) and we're trying to do something that Vernon Hills has never done before."
Daniels kept reminding himself of that, especially in the second half when he was trying to pull the Cougars out of the hole.
He scored 11 of his game-high 16 points after halftime, including 2 three-pointers.
Vernon Hills also got 9 points from Stephen Curry and 8 points from Chris Argianas.
"I know I've got to pick the guys up. I've been here for four years. I think I know when to pick everything up," Daniels said. "I just had to attack more and find open shots and hope that they go in. And they went in."
Vernon Hills got a bunch of shots to go in during the third quarter. While the Cougars connected on 8-of-13 shots, Round Lake went cold.
The Panthers hit just 2 of their 14 field goal attempts in the third.
It was a stark contrast to their impressive shooting of the first half, particularly the first quarter.
Round Lake hit 7-of-14 field goals in the first quarter to end with an 18-8 lead. The Panthers rolled up 4 3-pointers in the quarter, including 2 by Teandre Brown.
"When things are going well and our kids are feeling good about themselves, it's easier to knock down shots," Round Lake coach Jim Roberts said. "We were feeling good about ourselves in the first quarter. But we lack that killer instinct and that toughness to understand that Vernon Hills is going to keep playing and we have to learn to play in that situation and finish out."
Nick Lange also had a big first-quarter 3-pointer for the Panthers. The senior forward finished with a team-high 14 points. He was the only Round Lake player to reach double figures.
North Chicago 86, Lakes 48: North Chicago's boys basketball team saw its 43-game division game winning streak slip away in a loss at Lakes earlier in the year.
The Warhawks got a measure of revenge by blasting the visiting Eagles 86-48 in a North Suburban Prairie Division game Friday night.
Lakes (8-16, 6-5) had beaten North Chicago 68-60 in the first meeting on Jan. 7.
"In the first game, we weren't focused and Lakes played a great game up there," Warhawks coach Gerald Coleman said. "North Chicago is just coming around like we are supposed to, and we are peaking at the right time with our pressure defense."
North Chicago (11-10, 9-1) was led by guards Maurice Gordon and Aaron Simpson. Gordon led all scorers with 21 points while teammate Simpson finished with a double-double 19 points and 10 assists.
"Simpson is very unselfish," Coleman said. "He scores a lot of points for us, but he would rather get the assists and it doesn't bother him when Gordon steps up and does the scoring.
"Gordon and Simpson have been playing together for three years, " Coleman said. "In the past, Simpson was the man to go to, and Gordon gave Simpson the ball. But with this team I have this year, when Gordon is scoring 16 points or more and Simpson is scoring 16 or 18 points, we are very tough to beat."
Jaylin Linson finished with 15 points.
"We came out with more intensity tonight than we did the first time we played them," said Simpson, who also had 5 steals. "When we are playing together, nobody can stop us because we're so fast."
North Chicago and Lakes battled back and forth as North Chicago led 21-17 at the end of the first quarter.
But North Chicago's Daryle Pearson started the second quarter with a 10-foot jump shot to start a 12-0 run as the Warhawks led 45-29 at halfime.
Sophomore Direll Clark scored 8 points in the first half and finished led the Eagles with 15 points.
"We played harder in the first game than we did (Friday)," Clark said. "In the second half, (North Chicago) was playing more aggressive 'D' than we were, and they were taking it to the rim."
Parker Blain and Justin Bergeron finished with 9 points each for Lakes.
"(North Chicago) was pretty focused tonight," Lakes coach Chris Snyder said. "They wanted to get some revenge tonight and were playing at an unbelievable energy level. We did match them in the first quarter. But in the second, there were times when we took a step back and that's when we really got hurt."
Irv Solomon
Grant 86, Antioch 48: Shane Richardson got back on the basketball court just recently for Grant after undergoing off-season knee surgery to repair a torn ACL.
He played sparingly in a couple of games, but Friday night the senior guard got on the scoreboard, too.
An all-area point guard last season, Richardson scored 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, as Grant defeated visiting Antioch 86-48 in North Suburban Prairie Division action.
Sean Wells led Grant (14-7, 8-3) with 16 points, while Allen Lewis and Vic Muntu each scored 14.
Jerry Gaylor and Jared Helmich had 8 points apiece for the Bulldogs.
Antioch (3-21, 0-10) was led by Mike Siperko's 14 points and Sam Green's 13.
Grayslake Central 74, Johnsburg 50: Tim Abbott scored a season-high 23 points to lead the host Rams in the Fox Valley Fox Division game.
Grayslake Central (13-9, 8-3) also received 12 points from C.J. Stempeck and nine from Casey Boyle.
Abbott scored 15 points in the second half, as the Rams pulled away after leading 31-22 at the break.
Girls bowling
ROCKFORD Antioch rolled to a quick start on the opening day of the IHSA state girls bowling tournament at Cherry Bowl in Rockford on Friday.
And a boost late in the day from Sarah Gagnon and Samantha Dvorak helped the Sequoits return for another day.
Antioch opened with a 1,035 and was in fourth place. The Sequoits then tossed games of 928 and 988 for a 2,951 total and sixth place.
But the afternoon was completely different. The Sequoits tossed games of 897, 854 and 954 for 2,705, dropping them to 11th but their total of 5,656 earned the Sequoits a spot in the top 12 teams that will bowl six games today.
Plainfield Central (6,210) has a 22-pin lead over Machesney Park Harlem (6,188) after the first six games.
"We bowled well this morning and thought we would be in fourth place after the morning session," Antioch coach Jeff Childress said. "We had multiple bowlers miss spares and were off track (in the afternoon)."
The Sequoits were on the on the bubble after five games and needed help off the bench from Gagnon (177) and Dvorak (174).
"Both of them delivered and put us over the hump," Childress said.
"You never know. We could get hot and sneak up in the top 10 (today). Our goal was to make it to state and then see if we could make it to the second day."
Gagnon and Dvorak have competed off and on throughout the season and they took advantage of their opportunity Friday.
"It was exciting and different," Dvorak said. "By the sixth game, everybody was getting frustrated. Getting new bodies out there brought ourselves up."
Stevie Lindberg led Antioch with a sox-game total of 1,215 and a high game of 233. The Sequoits' other scorers were Allyson Mathias (1,188), Symantha Rolph (1,136), Katy Bain (894, five games) and Kelsey Schreiber (872, five games).
Vernon Hills' Randi Stone stood sixth after a morning series of 693 (247, 212, 234). Over the final three games, Stone tossed games of 148, 247 and 155 for a 1,243 (19th).
"Honestly, the first game I was flipping out and never thought I would be here," Stone said after her first appearance at state. "I was trying to keep up with the pace.
"Making the second day, I'm thrilled about it. It's just like another day of bowling. I'm hoping to be in the top 10."
Jodi Gawlik of Schaumburg fired a 300 in the final game of the morning session. She rolled a six-game total of 1,456 that included three-game series of 743 and 713. Gawlik leads the individual standings.
Girls basketball
Stevenson's girls basketball team finished the regular season with 20 wins for the second straight year, defeating host Lake Zurich 60-37 in a North Suburban Lake Division finale Friday night.
Michelle O'Brien scored a game-high 25 points, including two 3-pointers, for the Patriots (20-8, 9-3).
Lake Zurich was led by Cathryne Spear and Maisie Cox, who scored 8 points apiece. Dori Darras added 7.
Grayslake North 58, Round Lake 51: The Knights' leading scorer on Senior Night was Brianna Leon, who scored 14 points.
Seniors Kaitlyn Woodward and Katie Detweiler contributed 6 and 3 points, respectively. Sophomore Jordyn Bowen played a strong defensive game and led the team with 4 assists.
Chanae Brown and Krystal Pitts each scored 19 points for the Panthers. Adriana Pitts added 10 points.
Zion-Benton 62, Mundelein 38: The Mustangs were led by Becca Woit and Olivia Dunigan, who had 8 points apiece. The loss dropped Mundelein's record to 11-16.
Juanita Robinson and Samantha Rodriguez each scored 15 points for the Zee Bees, who went into the fourth quarter with a 29-point lead. Zion-Benton improved its record to 21-6 and 8-4 in the North Suburban Lake.