Scouting Vernon Hills

CENTRAL SUBURBAN LEAGUE NORTH

VERNON HILLS COUGARSCoach: Matt McCarty (16th season)

Last year: 7-22, 0-12 CSLN

Last year's tournament finish: Lost in the regional semifinals to Carmel, 60-42.

Key players lost: G Tony Brown, F/C Payton Foster, G/F Luke Perlin

Key players returning: G Joey Levitan, sr., F Mekhi McCarthy, sr., C John Dosmagen, sr.

Newcomers: F Ryan Jacobson, jr., F/C Michael Moore, jr., F Jack Barzcz, jr.

Outlook: To say that Vernon Hills was senior-heavy last season would be a bit of an understatement. "We graduated 11 seniors from last season, which means we will have a lot of new faces on varsity this year," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. "Obviously with so many newcomers we will be stressing trying to come together as a team but I do like what I have seen with our junior class which has some much needed skill and size. And our seniors are easy to coach. They lead and give great effort which is important for our newcomers as they learn to mature as players." Three seniors who were on last year's varsity are Joey Levitan, Mekhi McCarthy, also a football standout, and John Dosmagen. "Joey is a strong and physical point guard that has put in a ton of hours working on his game," McCarty said. "John and Mekhi give us strength and quickness in the paint. All three give nothing but their best. They are great teammates and we look forward to having them provide our newcomers with excellent leadership." The Cougars will need contributions from players at every position, inside and out. They had a tough time manufacturing offense last season. "We really struggled at times to score last season," McCarty said. "We have some players this season that can put the ball in the hoop but there is still a lot of room for improvement on the defensive end and learning to do the small things correctly on the offensive end."

Opener: vs. Chicago Sullivan at the Northridge Prep Thanksgiving Tournament, 7:30 p.m., Monday