Mundelein rises past against Grayslake Central
A look of terror passed over the face of Chino Ebube.
“Sorry, I’m really nervous,” Ebube said. “This is my first interview.”
All those nerves and butterflies should subside quickly. Chances are Ebube, Mundelein’s explosive, energetic and high-jumping forward, will be a pro at postgame interviews in no time. Especially if he keeps putting together games like he did Monday night against visiting Grayslake Central.
Ebube, who is of Nigerian descent and will probably be asked repeatedly in the coming weeks by curious reporters how to pronounce his last name (it’s Eh-boo-bay, by the way), scored 18 points, including 10 during a clutch stretch in the fourth quarter, to help carry Mundelein to a 71-61 victory over the Rams in the opening round of the Mundelein Thanksgiving Tournament.
Ebube was also a monster on the boards with 14 rebounds. And he was a menace on the defensive end, blocking several shots and changing countless others.
“Rebounding and blocking shots ... those are my areas of focus,” said Ebube, a junior. “I think my leaping ability helps.”
Maybe a little.
At one point in the fourth quarter, Ebube seemed to effortlessly rise towards the rim to dunk the ball off the break.
“Chino is one of the best athletes I’ve ever been around. I’ve never seen a kid with such explosion,” said Mundelein coach Dick Knar, who also got a game-high 25 points out of his son, junior point guard Robert Knar. “He is so athletic. He can get up to the rim so quick. He’s got such an unbelievably quick bounce. And he’s so active.”
Ebube’s activity level hit its peak in the fourth quarter.
He helped the Mustangs take control of what was otherwise a nip-and-tuck affair from the very start. Mundelein and Grayslake Central were deadlocked at the end of the first quarter (13-13) and at halftime (30-30).
Mundelein got a bit of breathing room at the end of the third quarter and took a 48-43 advantage into the fourth, but the Rams tied the game again (48-48) about a minute in on a 3-pointer by Danny Reed.
But that’s when Ebube went to work. He scored 6 of the Mustangs’ next 14 points and rolled up all kinds of rebounds, including a couple of clutch ones on the offensive end to keep possessions alive.
Mundelein quickly turned a 2-point lead into an 11-point lead and never was seriously threatened again.
“We didn’t get enough defensive rebounds,” said 6-foot-9 Grayslake Central center Casey Boyle, who tied teammate Jordan Taylor for team-high scoring honors with 18 points. “That killed us in this game. I didn’t do particularly well myself boxing out (Ebube) and I let him get too many second-chance points.
“I feel like as a team, we didn’t put all the effort we could have into today’s game.”
The opposite was true for Mundelein, thanks in large part to all the hustle from Ebube.
“There’s no question about that,” Knar said. “The effort has always been there with this group.” Reed added 13 points for Grayslake Central and Sean O’Brien finished with 12 points for Mundelein.
“It doesn’t matter what we do offensively,” Grayslake Central coach Brian Moe said. “If we don’t get a defensive rebound, we’re not going to beat anybody. I don’t know how many offensive rebounds they had (16) tonight, but I think I’m going to be up until 4 a.m. counting every single one of them on the film.”