Grant, Wauconda, Grayslake North all playing well

Several boys basketball teams have turned things up a notch of late around Lake County with one of the glaring examples being the Grant Bulldogs.

After a moribund 2-12 start to the season, including losing their first two Northern Lake County Conference games, Grant is now 11-15 overall and 8-4 in conference. A 62-42 conference win over North Chicago earlier this week, put the Bulldogs at 10-3 in 2022 and impinging on second place in the NLCC.

Coach Wayne Bosworth noted the team's nonconference schedule against the likes of North Lawndale, Carmel, Libertyville, Palatine, Barrington, Loyola, Mundelein and Buffalo Grove, "has started to pay off because our group is battle-tested," he said.

Bosworth pointed to a recent win 58-39 win against Central Suburban North second-place occupant Vernon Hills (17-10 overall) as another key example of the Bulldogs' progress. It was Vernon Hills' largest margin of defeat this season, Bosworth added. "Our guys are coming along, confident and peaking at the right time," he said.

In a 19-point win over Grayslake North, Randal Holm (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Bobby Gray (11 points, 11 rebounds) each had double-doubles.

"We are playing really well overall as a team right now," Bosworth said. "I couldn't single out one thing defensively or offensively. Our chemistry is on a completely different level than November and December. We're clicking right now and playing our best basketball of the season. This group as a completely different look to it. We have done a complete 180 midseason."

Wauconda update:

The numbers say the Wauconda boys basketball team is doing many things right. The Bulldogs were on a nine-game winning tear earlier this week. Coach Scott Luetschwager's group was 19-3 overall and a robust 10-1 in Northern Lake County Conference action.

In a recent contest against Lakes, Justin Drobnik had 22 points and 8 rebounds, while Garrison Carter added 18 points and 8 boards. Griffin Daun had 12 points and 9 assists.

"We are playing well as a team," Luetschwager said. "We are sharing the ball."

Luetschwager pointed out the Bulldogs racked up 20 or more assists in each of four recent games. In fact, Wauconda sports an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.55.

Individually, during a recent three-game run Drobnik averaged 17 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks, while Carter averaged 17.3 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Three of Wauconda's top seven players are shooting above 40% from the 3-point line.

Grayslake North update:

A tip of the hat also goes to the Knights, who have turned things around in a big way of late. North was 12-14 overall and 6-4 in Northern Lake County action through midweek. At one point, the Knights were 2-9 thanks to a 10-5 ledger over the last 15.

Included in that recent run was a 32-30 overtime win against neighbor Grayslake Central via Joseph Valera's game-winning buzzer beater. "It was definitely a highlight of our season," North coach Josh Feinzimer said.

While on the subject of Valera, he tied his own single-game steals record with eight in a game against Round Lake last week.

Also of statistical note, Dominic Jankowski was 14 points away from 1,000 for his career as of earlier this week.

Feinzimer also has been thrilled with his team's defensive improvements - with the Knights holding Round Lake to 36 points and North Chicago to 47 points. "Defense has been a focal point for us all year. We are starting to shut teams down on that end of the floor," the coach said.

Stevenson update:

Patriots coach Pat Ambrose continues to see plenty that he likes from his squad, which was 16-7 overall and 8-3 in North Suburban action earlier this week - marks that included a recent three-game winning streak.

"We are getting a lot of contributions from our seniors," he said. "We are playing better team basketball. I am seeing strong ball-handling and shooting with a dose of defense."

Antioch update:

The assists column of the score book has been getting a workout of late for the Sequoits (7-16, 4-7 NLCC earlier this week).

Antioch is averaging 12 assists per game on 16 made field goals. "We are sharing the ball much better lately," coach Sean Connor said.

The Sequoits were 50-48 overtime winners Lakes, "the biggest win of the season for us," Connor said.

Freshman Marshall Gehrke had 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks in the road win in Lake Villa.

"We have been shooting it very well over the last four games," Connor pointed out. "We're about 5-10 % higher from 2, 3 and the free-throw line."

Also during that recent four-game stretch, Connor noted senior Leighton Costello is averaging 10 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, while shooting 57 % from 2 and 40 % from 3.

"Leighton's increase in scoring and assists have been a big boost to our offense in our recent wins over Lakes and Richmond-Burton," Connor pointed out.

Vernon Hills update:

The Cougars (17-10, 6-3 Central Suburban North) went 3-0 during a recent stretch with wins over Niles North, Maine East and Antioch. Vernon Hills edged Niles by six and Antioch by a bucket, while handily beating Maine East in what coach Matt McCarty called one of the team's most complete offensive games of the year (79 points scored). Justin St. Louis went 7-for-9 from 3 in that game and had 24 points.

Nick Heiser had 27 points and hit 7 3s in the win over Antioch. Vince Rodkey hit a clutch jumper with under 4 minutes to play, while Carson Lindley sank key free throws in the last minute. Adam Jablonski also played well for Vernon Hills, which was short-handed in that Antioch game.

McCarty also noted Heiser's 27-point output made him the fifth player to go over 20 points in a game this year. "Having five players reach 20-plus points in a game during the course of the season has not happened very often or ever here," he said.

Milan Raval has six 20-point games (30 against Bulls Prep), while St. Louis has three.

Lakes update:

The Eagles dropped recent Northern Lake County games to Grayslake Central, Antioch and Round Lake. Clarity Turney tied the Lakes single-season record for steals at 79.

Carmel update:

Junior James Dwyer is averaging 10 points, shooting 55% from the floor and 47 % from 3 over his last five games. The 6-3 Dwyer is shooting 40 % from 3 on the season for the Corsairs (17-10, 5-4 ESCC as of earlier this week).

Bryce Moore, headed to Niagara University, averages 17.9 points per game, while Asher Jackson rounds out a tough 1-2 punch at 17.2 points.

Also of significance, Corsairs coach Zack Ryan is now the program's all-time winningest coach. In the 57 years of boys basketball at the Mundelein school, Ryan has 121 wins in eight seasons. He surpassed Frank Krajacic, who had 118 wins from 1970-1978.

Grayslake Central update:

Central picked up a pair of recent wins over Grant and Antioch to move to 17-10 overall and 8-3 in Northern Lake County action.

Brendan Whalen had 26 points and 8 rebounds against Antioch, while junior post player Jake Gibson has averaged 10 points, 6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks over a recent five-game stretch. "Jake has been playing really well," Rams coach Brian Centella noted. "Collectively, we have been playing excellent team defense, which has really helped propel us this season."

Warren update:

The Blue Devils (14-12, 7-5 North Suburban) have received a continual spark from Gavin Cartwright. Coach Jon Jasnoch pointed out over the last three games, Cartwright averaged 5 rebounds and 3 assists. "Gavin continues to lead our defensive effort and our team offense," the coach said.

During that same three-game run, Drew Dolan averaged 14 points, while Cooper Stacey was at 10 points.

Libertyville update:

And wrapping up with the Lake County superlatives, Libertyville was sitting at 22-7 overall and 10-2 in North Suburban play earlier this week.

Coach Brian Zyrkowski explained Jake Huber has averaged 6 deflections and 2 steals per game during a recent four-game stretch.

Chase Bonder is averaging 16 points and 7 rebounds per contest for the Cats. Huber is at 8 points, 4 assists and 2.5 steals per game.

"Rebounding, both offensively and defensively, has been a strength," Zyrkowski said.

Also of prime importance with the Class 4A postseason on deck, Libertyville is shooting above 80 % from the foul line as a team.