Vernon Hills rides out victory over Wauconda

Two North Suburban Conference Prairie Division teams that know each other very well traveled down to Norridge to play in a semifinal of the Class 3A Ridgewood regional.

After a slow start in the first half, Vernon Hills' boys basketball team came out with the hot hand and went on to defeat Wauconda 61-43 Tuesday night.

Vernon Hills will play top-seeded Ridgewood for the regional title at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The Cougars held a 28-26 halftime lead, opened the third quarter with 8 straight points and never looked back.

Vernon Hills guard Darren Hoveydai led all scorers with 28 points, sinking 13 of 14 shots from the foul line. Wauconda's Kyle Ryan scored 15 points in the first half and finished with 23 points.

"I thought we played a great game," Hoveydai said. "Coach (Matt McCarty) told me that if they are going to foul me, just take advantage of it."

"The key of the game was the beginning of the second half," McCarty said. "Kyle Ryan had a great first half and made some tough shots. He is a good, solid player. In the second half, we concentrated on limiting his touches."

Vernon Hills (15-12) held Wauconda to 9 points in the third quarter and 3 in the fourth.

"We did a better job defending (Ryan) down the stretch," McCarty said.

Wauconda (11-17) mustered just 6 shots in the third quarter.

"We came out a little slow in the third quarter," Wauconda coach Scott Luetschwager said. "(Vernon Hills) turned it on and we had too many turnovers. We had some open looks, but the ball just didn't fall in.

"I felt that Kyle had a great game for us, and I thought that all of our kids fought hard and gave us a great effort."

McCarty knows what is in store for his Cougars against Ridgewood.

"They are really good and have some exceptional three-point shooters, so we are going to have to defend the arc," he said. "They are one of the best ballclubs I saw all year."