Clark, Lakes wear this win well

The quick hands of Direll Clark prevented him from being the, well, butt of the joke.

During the third quarter of his Lakes basketball team’s 55-34 win over visiting Antioch on Saturday night, a hustling Clark pursued Sequoits guard Anthony Formella, who found himself on a breakaway.

Clark leapt high trying to block Formella’s layup attempt.

As the referee’s whistle blew, Clark hit the court, got up — and realized his baggy shorts had slid down to about the middle of his thick calves.

Before the laughs got any louder, Clark pulled up his XL uniform trunks (thank goodness for his long jersey) and retied his drawstring.

“I had to hurry and pull them up,” Clark said with a laugh.

It was a good thing Clark didn’t lose his shorts, considering he and his teammates Jay-Jay Elvir and Andrew Spencer had lost three games due to an athletic-code violation. In the trio’s first game back from the suspension, each played a huge role in Lakes improving to 14-7 and 8-1 in the North Suburban Prairie Division.

Clark led all scorers with 16 points, including a 3-pointer, and had 4 steals. Elvir had 4 points, 4 assists and 4 steals, and Spencer came off the bench to produce 5 points, including a 3, and 4 rebounds.

“The team handled it really well,” Lakes coach Chris Snyder said. “I think our depth is a little better now. It just helped some guys get into other roles that they hadn’t been in before.”

Clark was thrilled to be back, and his energy was apparent.

“I hate watching my team playing without me,” Clark said. “It didn’t feel good (sitting out). It made me sick to my stomach that I couldn’t be out on the court with my teammates.”

Lakes lost to Warren in its first game without Clark, Elvir and Spencer, but the Eagles’ win over Antioch (4-17, 0-8) was their third in a row.

“When those three were out, others had to step in,” said Lakes center Justin Schneider, who had a busy game against Antioch with 11 points (2 dunks), 5 steals, 4 blocks and 4 rebounds. He also drew a charge.

“Jake Brown, (sophomore call-up) TJ Edwards, other kids, they just played phenomenal,” Schneider added. “It got them better. So later on in the season, when we go play in regionals and sectionals, we’ll be able to bring them off the bench and they’ll be just fine.”

Antioch jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to William Waschow’s 3-pointer and Emery Paramski’s four-point play. But Clark’s three-point play started a 10-0 run for the Eagles, who led 17-9 after one quarter and kept building on the advantage.

Tanner Blain (9 points) scored on an aggressive drive and 3-pointer to help Lakes go into halftime up 29-17.

Waschow had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals to pace Antioch, which committed 32 turnovers.

Despite the Sequoits’ struggles, Schneider knows the rivalry remains strong. Students from both sides were loud all game.

“A lot of us went to school with (the Antioch players) and played not just basketball but baseball, football and other sports with them since we were little kids,” Schneider said. “It’s a big rivalry. Me, Jay-Jay, Tanner, the other seniors, we want to make it memorable.”

Lakes hosts Carmel in a nonconference game Tuesday before playing Friday at North Chicago, where the Eagles will try to avenge their double-overtime loss on Dec. 16. A Lakes win would create a tie for first place in the NSC Prairie with the two teams.#147;We talked about after the first game against North Chicago about just giving ourselves another chance,#148; Snyder said. #147;To these guys#146; credit, we took care of what we needed to do to make that (second) game an important game.#148;