Wauconda handles Vernon Hills
Wauconda’s Kyle Ryan scored the first 7 points of the game, a hint of things to come, as the host Bulldogs defeated Vernon Hills 61-50 in a North Suburban Prairie Division boys basketball game on Friday night.
“I knew that we needed to come out shooting,” said Ryan, who along with teamate Austin Swenson led all scorers with 20 points. “We just put pressure on their offense and it seemed like everything went our way tonight.”
Ryan also grabbed 4 rebounds and had 3 steals.
“Kyle has been our offensive leader all season,” said Wauconda coach Scott Luetschwawger, whose Bulldogs improved to 10-13 overall and 3-7 in the NSC Prairie, while snappinh a season-worst five-game losing streak. “We try to rely on him as much as possible. He had a great first quarter and a couple of 3-point shots that were huge for us.”
Swenson scored 12 of his points in the second half.
“We doubled down on (Vernon Hills’) offense,” said Swenson, who also had 3 rebounds and 2 steals. “Down the stretch, we had some good looks and the shots went in and that made the difference for us.”
According to Luetschwager, it was a huge win for the Bulldogs.
“We talked all week about making about making a statement win against Vernon Hills,” Luetschwager said.”We worked hard on defense all week long and the kids came out and played great defense .
Darren Hoveydai led the Cougars with 15 points.
“We just weren’t ready to play in the first half,” Hoveydai said. “In the second half after we tied the game, we were rushing and they just took advantage to win.”
Wauconda cruised to a 27-19 halftime lead and built a 35-25 lead midway in the third quarter. But Vernon Hills finished with a 4-2 rush at the end of the third quarter and produced a 13-4 run in the fourth quarter to tie the score 42-42 with 4:34 left in the quarter.
The Cougars’ Dylan McNamara (season-high 11 points) highlighted the run with two 3-point shots.
Ryan followed with a 3 and a jumper to give the Bulldogs a 47-42 lead. This time, they protected it.
Vernon Hills’ Jarrett Wood (6 points) and John Foley each had 4 fouls entering the fourth quarter. Nate Rathod scored 9 points before he fouled out early in the fourth. Trenton Fulton finished with 11 points fo the Cougars.
“Wauconda played well and you have to give them alot of credit,” said Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty, whose Cougars fell to 11-9 and 5-4 in the division. “In the first half, we just didn’t take care of the ball and we didn’t defend. They came out to play basketball and we didn’t.”
The Cougars received good news as Stephen Curry, who sat his second game in a row with an injury, was cleared to play against Chicagoland Jewish Academy on Tuesday.
“Stephen makes a big difference for us,” McCarty said. “This is not excuse for us tonight. We talked about that Stephen will miss at least the next two games. Other guys needed to step up, and they just weren’t consistent enough.”