Fox, Antioch stay the course against Grayslake North

On the way to his team's victorious postgame locker room, Antioch boys basketball coach Jim White passed by junior forward Weston Fox and patted him on the back.

"That was way more than four minutes tonight," White smiled at Fox.

Foul trouble had hampered Fox in some earlier games this season and had kept him on the bench for long stretches, which limited his minutes significantly. On Monday night, the only trouble from Fox was the trouble he was giving Grayslake North.

White tried something new with Fox, normally a starter, for the Grayslake North game. He had Fox come off the bench and limited his early minutes so that Fox would be more likely to be available late, when the game was on the line.

The strategy worked.

Fox never got into foul trouble, scored all 11 of his points in the second half and was one of four Antioch players in double-figures as the Sequoits got a decisive 71-54 nonconference victory over visiting Grayslake North.

The Sequoits move to 3-4 on the season.

"So much foul trouble this year," Fox said, agreeing with White. "It seems like they pick on me because of my size. They always call me on the body, with the elbows. But I just try to stay away (from contact) and keep my hands up.

"It was fun stuff to be able to stay out there this time."

Fox, a solid 6-foot-2, made his biggest mark fighting inside for position, scoring in the post, rebounding and getting second-chance opportunities for his team.

He also had all 7 of his rebounds in the second half.

"I just try to get my guys going with scoring or rebounds," Fox said. "Whatever I can do to help the team is what I do."

Antioch, which can go 12 deep, got help from all corners. Ten players got significant minutes, eight of them scored and seven of them scored at least 5 points.

Kyle Gofron led the Sequoits with 15 points while Matt Powers scored 11 points and Trevor Koch added 10 points.

"They out-worked us from the opening tip, and all that is credit to them," Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh said. "They are big, thick kids who throw their weight around and they really run the floor well. There for a while in the first quarter, I thought we were going to get run out of the gym."

Thanks to a couple of 3-pointers from Aidan Einloth (game-high 19 points), Grayslake North (5-4) was able to cut its deficit to just 2 points (10-8) by the end of the first quarter. And it was a 3-point game at halftime with Einloth sitting on 17 points at the break.

But Antioch began to pull away midway through the second half, starting the fourth quarter with a 10-3 run. That gave the Sequoits a 55-44 lead three minutes into the quarter.

"Our energy really died down in the second half," said Einloth, who saw only one other teammate (Dom DiProva, 10 points) reach double-figures. "It was our third game in four days and we really didn't have that edge that they came out with and we couldn't counter."

Every time Grayslake North began to chip away, Antioch answered with big buckets and free throws. The Sequoits, who never let their lead slip below 10 points over the final few minutes, made 14-of-18 free throws in the fourth quarter alone.

"We're a young team and we're learning," White said. "But we had a good summer and that kind of started things for us and now to take another big step like this is really good.

"This is a big game for us."