Niles North tops Vernon Hills for Wheeling consolation title
Malachi Nix scored 23 points, as Niles North's boys basketball team defeated Vernon Hills 62-48 for the consolation-bracket championship in the Wheeling Hardwood Classic on Friday.
The Vikings opened up a 23-12 lead after one quarter, led 37-23 at halftime and were up 49-31 after three.
Mychael Henley added 14 points and 8 rebounds for Niles North.
Darren Hoveydai led Vernon Hills (7-6, 2-2) with 21 points, including three 3-pointers, 3 assists and 3 steals. Stephen Curry added 12 points for the Cougars.
Carmel 61, Loyola 52: At Wheeling, Brandon Motzel's double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds led the Corsairs, who rallied from a 42-38 deficit after three quarters to win the consolation-bracket third-place game in the Hardwood Classic.
Ian Kristan added 11 points and Nickai Poyser contributed a season-high 9 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. The sophomore trio of Kristan, Poyser and Billy Kirby each sank two 3-pointers for Carmel (5-7, 2-2).
Motzel was named to the all-tournament team.
Grayslake North 64, Johnsburg 56: At Grant, the Knights won their tournament finale, as Mark Hall (15 points), AJ Fish (13), Danny Mateling (12), Nick Carmody (11) and Zack Krupp (11) all scored in double figures.
Grayslake North (6-5) finished 1-3 in the tourney.
Northridge Prep 43, Round Lake 40: At Grant, Anthony Gutierrez scored 15 points for the Panthers, who went 1-3 in the tournament.
Round Lake also got 10 points from Danny Uriostegui and 9 from Juddon Carter.
North Chicago 84, Grayslake Central 67: Led by the record-setting performance of senior guard Aaron Simpson, the Warhawks captured the fifth-place game in the State Farm Holiday Classic on Thursday night.
Simpson scored 38 points (six 3-pointers), rallying North Chicago from a 37-32 halftime deficit. He finished with a tournament-record 135 points, breaking the record of Joey Range, who scored 134 points for Galesburg in the 1997 tournament.
Simpson also averaged a tournament-record 33.75 points per game, surpassing the 32.75-ppg average established by Jim Shikenjanski of Rockton Hononegah in 1985. Simpson made 32 field goals, 16 3-pointers and went 23 of 28 from the foul line.
Grayslake Central (8-5), which got outscored 24-14 in the third quarter and 28-16 in the fourth, was led by Danny Reed's season-high 22 points, which included four 3s.
The Rams also got 18 points from Casey Boyle, 12 from Jordan Taylor and 10 from Sayvonte McWilliams.
Lake Park 54, Fremd 45: Lake Park (10-3) beat Fremd (9-5) for the second time this season in the seventh-place game of the Wildcat Hardwood Classic.
Lake Park used an 18-6 third quarter to erase a 20-18 halftime lead. Sean Benka (14 points), Adam Gorecki (11 points, 7 rebounds) and Garrett Peters (11 points) led Fremd as it wrapped up its first appearance at Wheeling.
Fremd sophomore Riley Glassman did not play after missing the second half of Thursday's game with a back injury.