Lake Zurich perseveres for victory over Thornridge
Mirko Grcic had 27 points and 14 rebounds, as Lake Zurich's shorthanded boys basketball team wrapped up the Pekin holiday tournament with a 49-45 win over Thornridge in overtime Thursday.
"We had six guys get sick, including starter Jeff O'Brien and top reserves Zach Johnson and Jerry Bauer, along with Justin Peterson spraining his ankle against Freeport (Wednesday)," Bears coach Billy Pitcher said.
John Repplinger started his first game and junior Jared Dobbertin and freshman Mike Travlos saw significant minutes for the first time. Travlos hit a big fourth-quarter 3-pointer to give Lake Zurich (10-8, 2-2) a 43-41 lead.
Thornridge followed with 2 free throws to tie it up and send the game to OT tied 43-43.
Doug Murphy added 9 points and 10 rebounds for Lake Zurich. Grcic hit a turnaround shot to give the Bears the lead lead in overtime, and Murphy made 2 foul shots to make it 48-45. Grcic added a free throw with 2 seconds left.
Grayslake Central 63, Rockton Hononegah 50: At Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center, Jordan Taylor scored 23 points, including three 3-pointers, as the Rams advanced to Thursday night's fourth-place game of the State Farm Holiday Classic against North Chicago.
Casey Boyle added 18 points for Grayslake Central (8-4, 2-1), which led 20-8 after one quarter.
Vernon Hills 60, Loyola 35: At Wheeling, the Cougars bolted to a 17-4 lead after one quarter, then outscored the Ramblers 13-2 in the second quarter to lead 30-6 at halftime.
Darren Hoveydai sank four 3-pointers, scored a game-high 18 points, hustled for 7 rebounds and dished out 5 assists for Vernon Hills (7-5, 2-1), which won its second straight game in the tournament.
Stephen Curry (7 assists) and MJ Crowley added 10 points apiece for the Cougars. Trenton Fulton grabbed a game-best 9 rebounds and scored 7 points, and Nate Rathod had 9 points for Vernon Hills.
Rathod had 3 of Vernon Hills' 11 3-pointers. Besides Hoveydai's 4, Curry and Crowley each hit 2.
Vernon Hills will play for the consolation championship today at 5:30 p.m. against Niles North.
Niles North 52, Carmel 48: At Wheeling, the Corsairs nearly overcame a 30-point effort by Vikings junior guard Malachi Nix.
Brandon Motzel has 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists for Carmel (4-7, 1-2). Ian Kristan scored 18 points, sinking four 3-pointers.
Carmel will play Loyola Academy in the consolation-bracket third-place game at 2 p.m. today.
Richmond-Burton 37, Grayslake North 36: At Grant, the Knights fell to 0-3 in the tournament after suffering their second one-point loss in as many days.
Danny Mateling and Mark Hall led Grayslake North (5-5) with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The Knights have lost their three games by a combined total of 8 points.