Vernon Hills downs Leyden for historic tourney title
As tipoff approached for his team's game vs. Leyden for the Maine East Holiday Tournament title Saturday night in Park Ridge, Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty looked at a couple of reasons for his team's successful run to the final with wins over Morton Grove Academy, Carl Sandburg, and the tourney hosts.
"(Our) guys have been playing better and we've had a lot of heart-to-heart talks over the last couple of weeks about our effort and energy and these guys have really responded well,“ McCarty said. ”I've really enjoyed coaching the guys."
And with the Cougars’ 52-41 win over the Eagles, McCarty got to enjoy taking the 23-year-old varsity program's first championship plaque back to Vernon Hills.
The Cougars (9-7) went on a 14-0 run in the second quarter that left them ahead to stay 24-17 with 47 seconds left in the half after a trey from tourney MVP Dylan Chung (10 points).
Sophomore guard Brady Larsen (team-high 15 points) got the ball rolling for Vernon Hills with a trio of field goals made beyond the arc. That began what became a 5-for-6 night from deep as they took a 26-19 advantage at halftime.
The Cougars’ lead grew to 37-21 after Larsen's fifth triple at the 5-minute mark of the third before Leyden (12-3) went on an 11-1 surge to pull within 38-32 at quarter's end.
After a trey from Eagles senior guard Drelyn Jones (game-high 17 points) kept them trailing 44-38 with 4:49 remaining, Vernon Hills would put the game away in the paint. Six-foot-5 sophomore Daniel Odhiambo tallied six of 12 points in the final stanza highlighted by a game-sealing dunk with 26 seconds remaining.
In addition 6-4 junior Anthony Morgan, Jr. (10 points) would go 4-6 at the foul line as it outscored Leyden 8-3.
Odhiambo, who added 9 rebounds, spoke of gaining strength and success from the learning experience he has gained thus far in the season as a catalyst for his team's victory.
"I really just try my hardest. I really just work to fit in (as a sophomore) on varsity. We really wanted to win this. It's wonderful. I think learning from (early) in the season is what brought us through (the tournament)."
The Eagles, who shot just 29% from the floor (15-44), were without the services of senior forward Michael Medious who suffered an ankle injury in Thursday's quarterfinal win over Ridgewood.
"I think you give them credit because of their athleticism and size," Leyden coach Bill Heisler said. "It's a little different look for us. Also, it's the fourth (straight) night of the tournament. We're off a tad on our jump shot and that's huge for us because that's a major part of what we do. Without Mike tonight it becomes even more of a part of what we do. Last night (vs. Providence) we hit those down the stretch and tonight we just couldn't get them to go (in the basket)."