Officially, a nice job by Mundelein

The referee approached Cliff Dunigan with a straight face and raised head.

He was about to give the Mundelein junior not a "T," but rather a "C."

Compliment.

"I'm going to interrupt you one second," the referee said while Dunigan was giving a postgame interview Saturday night. "This young man right here did an excellent job of not losing his head when he dove and was on the floor with that other kid and then the other kid dove in there and dove on top of him to tie him up. ... Nice job."

Mundelein coach Dick Knar gave Dunigan a pat on the back too after the Mustangs held off Lakes 77-69 to improve to 4-0 in their own Thanksgiving tournament, which concludes Monday night.

Dunigan, a 6-foot-2 forward and first-year varsity player, scored a season-high 23 points to tie teammate Robert Knar for game-high scoring honors and also grabbed 6 rebounds, all on the offensive glass.

"Played fantastic," Dick Knar said of Dunigan. "I just liked his effort. He was playing hard. He was defending different positions."

Earlier in the day, Dunigan had to explain his effort.

"We got on him today (during film session), and he performed," Robert Knar said. "He had to face his first adversity of the year, and he played really well."

"The coach was on me because he thought I didn't play hard enough our last game," Dunigan explained. "He was getting mad because on some of the plays I wasn't denying my guy all the way. So this game I really tried to focus on getting out and denying my guy and getting up on him."

When Dunigan wasn't defending, or diving to the court to secure loose basketballs, he was making the most of his offensive opportunities.

He made 9 of 12 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, and sank 3 of 4 foul shots.

"We knew (Dunigan) was a guy that could definitely hit the shot, but we were preparing for (Sean) O'Brien and Knar," Lakes coach Chris Snyder said of the Mustangs' two returning starters and top scoring threats. "That's what makes that team dangerous. They got a lot of guys that fill in and knock down those shots."

"I really got to owe it to my teammates because I was cutting and they were just getting me the ball," Dunigan said. "It wasn't like I was taking guys off the dribble."

Robert Knar's play was equally inspiring. He rolled his left ankle at the end of the first half, got it taped up heavily by trainer Sami Turpin at halftime, then went out and helped his team win the game.

Knar scored 16 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter.

His two 3-pointers, both off passes by O'Brien (11 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks) keyed a 10-0 run after Lakes (2-2) pulled even at 56-56 on a scoop by Direll Clark with 5:32 left in the fourth.

"My dad always talks about toughness and tells me all these stories about guys that played through injuries," said Knar, the coach's kid. "I want to try to be one of those guys and try to make the best of it. My teammates helped me fight through it."

Knar kept Lakes at bay by hitting the front end of three 1-and-1's, going 6 of 6 from the line, in the final minute.

"We got a little bit frantic," Dick Knar said. "I was telling the guys, '(Lakes) is pressuring, pressuring, pressuring. If you have some patience, reverse the ball, someone is going to be wide open. Use their aggression against them.' "

Tanner Blain (three 3s) and Justin Schneider (5 rebounds, 4 blocks) led Lakes with 14 points apiece. Clark and Justin Bergeron had 13 and 10, respectively.

"We played hard. We battled," Snyder said. "When they made some runs to go up by 8 or 10, we kept fighting to bring it back in, but we just couldn't get over that hump again."