Knar (38 points) paces Mundelein win
As time was winding down at the end of the third quarter of the Class 4A Zion-Benton regional final between No. 3 seed Mundelein and No. 11 seed Lake Zurich, Mundelein junior Robert Knar launched a one-handed, halfcourt 3-pointer to try to beat the buzzer.
The missed shot was a bit surprising, but only because Knar simply couldn’t miss for the Mustangs on his previous shots in the third quarter.
Knar scored 15 points in the third and finished his sensational night with 38 — just 3 off his career-best of 41 set in San Diego earlier this season — to lead the Mustangs to a hard-fought 82-65 win over Lake Zurich for the regional title. This was the third regional triumph under Knar’s father Dick during his eight seasons at Mundelein.
“I always tell people that the bigger the game the better (Robert) plays,” said Mundelein coach Dick Knar. “When he gets into a rhythm like that and then he gets his jumper going, he is just hard to guard.”
Mundelein earned its 25th win of the season, third most in a season in school history, against 7 losses and will face No. 2 seed St. Viator, a 78-54 winner over Rolling Meadows at the Barrington sectional, Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
The third quarter outburst by Knar came just when the Mustangs needed it as Lake Zurich (15-16) had taken control of the game leading 33-31 at the half.
“I thought we did a great job in the second quarter tonight,” said Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher. “It just came down to (Mundelein) hitting more shots, and Knar was just on fire.”
During one stretch of the third quarter, Knar scored 10 straight points and 13 out of 15, including a backbreaking 3-pointer from the corner with 2:53 left in the period to build the lead back up to 7 at 51-44.
“The rim just started to look so huge for me,” said Knar who also added 10 rebounds and 5 assists to his gaudy point total. “My teammates were setting screens and moving the ball and the offense was just beautiful there in the second half.”
Even with the shooting of Knar, the Mustangs couldn’t shake Lake Zurich. That was due in large part to Bears seniors Jeff O’Brien (16 points) and Mirko Grcic. At one point in the first half, Grcic was matching Knar bucket for bucket, but in the third quarter Grcic and the Bears simply couldn’t keep pace.
“It’s tough because we didn’t execute our game plan as well on Knar as we could,” said Grcic who finished his standout career with 26 points and 7 rebounds. “He’s a great player and he got hot.”
Another 3-pointer by Knar and a 3-point-play from junior Sean O’Brien (16 points, 16 rebounds) sealed the regional title for Mundelein at the start of the fourth quarter. Nate Williams and Cliff Dunigan added 11 points apiece for Mundelein.