Vernon Hills edges Grant
You have to give Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty credit. He tried a number of different ways to get his Cougars fired up for their North Suburban Conference Prairie Division contest at Grant on Friday night.
“He pulled us off the floor during warm-ups and got on us about being ready and getting ready to go,” said Cougars senior Darren Hoveydai. “All week in practice he reminded us of our loss up here last year so he was getting us ready.”
When the first two minutes of the second quarter resulted in an 11-point deficit, McCarty got on his Cougars again.
“I thought it was effort stuff, things we could take care of,” McCarty said. “I got a little animated talking about hustle plays and getting after it.”
Then in the final minutes, McCarty yelled just one final piece of instructions to help Jarrett Wood and Vernon Hills execute a game-winning play.
“He told me to cut to the basket and I knew that Darren and Steve (Curry) would get me the ball,” Wood said.
Hoveydai did find a cutting Wood under the basket for a layup with 16 seconds left, helping lift Vernon Hills to just its third win at Grant in school history 53-52.
“(Grant) had a couple of big guys under the basket and I just tried to find an opening,” Wood said. “Steve made a great pass and the whole play just felt like slow motion. But I wanted to finish it because I had some trouble finishing around the basket.”
And Vernon Hills (8-5, 3-1) had trouble finishing the first half as the Cougars trailed 31-22. But the visitors had no issue starting the second half. Hoveydai scored 9 of his game-high 24 points in the third quarter, including 6 during a 12-0 run that gave the Cougars a 44-39 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“We got aggressive and started executing our offense better and we started rebounding the ball better, too,” McCarty said. “It was really about execution and effort and playing together, and we did that.”
Grant (9-5, 2-2) answered the Cougar run with a huge burst to open the fourth quarter. A 9-0 run keyed by a 3-pointer and bucket from Allen Lewis (9 points) gave the Bulldogs a brief lead before Vernon Hills responded one last time.
“I think Vernon Hills stepped up and made some big plays down the stretch,” said Grant coach Wayne Bosworth “That No. 15, the guard he had a game for them and stepped up and made some big plays.”
The Bulldogs took the lead for the last time with 1:01 left on a wild spinning layup from Lewis before Curry found Wood for the game-winning play. Grant had one final opportunity, but a short jumper from Sean Wells (9 points), hit the back iron and bounced away.
Jared Helmich led Grant in scoring with 15 points and Ilya Kadushin chipped in with 11 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Curry added 13 points and 6 assists for Vernon Hills.