Vernon Hills edges out Carmel

Football ended a month ago for Vernon Hills’ Jarrett Wood.

But the all-conference linebacker/running back found himself back in a physical battle — without a helmet and pads — Wednesday at Carmel Catholic.

The 6-foot-4 Wood fought for position in the post all night with Carmel’s 6-7, 220-pound Brandon Motzel.

“I’ve played him over the years and he’s always been a very good player,” Wood said. “I know he’s got a chance to play at the college level, and I just took pride in myself as a defender and wanted to shut him down as much as possible. I knew he was going to score, but I wanted to limit that as much as possible and battle with him.

“It was a good battle to the end.”

Motzel won the statistical battle, but Wood and his Vernon Hills teammates won the game, hanging on for a 46-45 nonconference victory that snapped a two-game losing streak.

Carmel (1-3), which overcame a 9-point deficit late in the third quarter to take a brief lead in the fourth, grabbed a missed Vernon Hills free throw in the final seconds. The Corsairs quickly dribbled into the frontcourt, but could not get a shot off as time expired.

“I thought the kids did a nice job (down the stretch), considering most of them are sophomores,” said Carmel coach Tim Bowen, who started three sophomores — 6-3 Ian Kristan, 5-11 Billy Kirby and 6-foot Andy Kantor. Another sophomore, Nickai Poyser, came off the bench to collect 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Poyser was called up last week after the Corsairs learned senior Connor Jordan will be out a month with mono, Bowen said.

Motzel, Carmel’s only returning starter, had 14 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals.

Wood scored all 8 of his points after halftime and grabbed a team-best 8 rebounds.

“That was a good high school battle (between Wood and Motzel),” Cougars coach Matt McCarty said.

Wood was tough down the stretch.

With Vernon Hills (3-2) clinging to a 43-41 lead, the Cougars got the ball to Wood, who drove on Motzel and banked in a shot with 1:15 remaining.

“We were trying to dribble the clock out,” McCarty said. “I knew that wasn’t going to last so we had to run a set play. Jarrett really stepped up and got a nice basket there.”

Junior forward Trenton Fulton led Vernon Hills with a season-high 15 points, which included three 3-pointers, and 7 rebounds.

“His best game of the year, by far,” McCarty said of the varsity rookie. “We asked him to guard No. 33 (Kristan), who’s a nice player for Carmel too. I thought he did a good job on him.”

Fulton sank his third 3 and then converted a layup in transition — both off feeds from Brett Peterson — to stretch the Cougars’ lead to 37-28 with two minutes left in the third, but Carmel rallied.

Kristan (10 points) canned a left-corner 3 to pull the Corsairs within 37-35 after three. They took the lead at 40-39 when Kristan dished to Motzel, who converted on the baseline with 4:32 left.

“I think the kids can do that,” Bowen said of the comeback from 9 down. “But the problem is, with a group like this with no varsity experience hardly and one player (Motzel) out there that’s a returnee, for them to sustain that (effort) for 32 minutes is really a chore.”

Zennen Davis-McKennie had 8 points and 4 steals for Carmel.

Two free throws by Darren Hoveydai (6 points) gave Vernon Hills the lead back at 41-40 with 4:18 to go, and then Wood followed by going baseline to score.

Stephen Curry (9 points) split a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left, and that was just enough for the Cougars to win a game they badly wanted after getting blown out by Ridgewood 67-37 in their tourney finale at Northridge Prep.

“We had a lot to play for,” McCarty said. “I told our guys after that game against Ridgewood that we were flat, we missed layups, we didn’t defend and we didn’t play with much passion. I really emphasized coming out (against Carmel) and playing with emotion, having fun and flying around the floor. I thought our guys did that tonight.”

Grayslake Central 56, Glenbrook South 53: Jordan Taylor scored 26 points, including two 3-pointers, and Rams coach Brian Moe won in his return to his alma mater.

Grayslake Central (3-3) also received 12 points from Casey Boyle.

The nonconference game was tied 34-34 after three quarters. Taylor and Boyle scored 9 and 6 points, respectively, in the fourth.