Lake County boys basketball notes: Bishop putting up big numbers at Mundelein

Mundelein junior guard Derek Bishop is having himself quite the offensive season.

Bishop is averaging 22 points per game for the Mustangs and went over the 1,000 career-point mark earlier this season.

“Derek is a prolific scorer in our conference and in all of our games,” Mundelein coach Matt Badgley said. “He averages 22 points while often getting the toughest defender guarding him.”

Badgley’s squad, which started the week 8-17 overall and 2-7 in North Suburban play, also has benefited from junior guard Evan Salvador’s play. He’s averaging 13.5 points and is shooting right around 40% from 3 this season.

“Evan is a very successful catch-and-shoot player,” Badgley said.

Carmel update: Rebounding has been an area of growth lately for the Corsairs (9-16 overall, 8th East Suburban Catholic).

“We started rebounding better,” Carmel coach Dmitry Pirshin said. “In the last 10 games, we have only lost the rebounding battle three times.”

Seniors Kaleb Jackson, Noah LaMora and Bryce Smith were cited for recent strong play by Pirshin.

Antioch update: Antioch junior Teddi Wetu broke the school single-season steals record of 48 (formerly held by Dan Filippone). Wetu has 53 with seven games left to play.

Antioch started the week 10-14 overall and was tied for second in the Northern Lake County Conference with Grayslake Central at 7-2, a game behind league leader Wauconda.

“There are still four teams in the race with five games left to play,” Antioch coach Sean Connor said. “Everyone has to be at their best the next three weeks.”

Grant update: Over the last week-and-half Will Schubert and Landon Enters averaged 13 points per game, while Schubert is averaging more than 5 rebounds a game for the Bulldogs.

Grant (9-12 overall) started the week fifth in the Northern Lake County Conference at 5-4.

“i am very happy with the group of guys on this team and their drive to keep improving,” Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said. “We are a group that is very close to turning a corner and begin playing our best basketball of the season down the stretch.”

Grayslake Central: The Rams moved into a first-place tie in the Northern Lake County Conference with Wauconda. Both teams are 8-2 in league play. Central was 16-7 overall through Wednesday. Both Lakes and Antioch are hot on their heels at 7-3 each.

Cayden Woods has been a major key for Central of late; he had 26 points and 6 rebounds against Johnsburg. “Cayden has really found his rhythm and is playing some of his best basketball of the season,” Rams coach Brian Centella said.

Centella said the combination of big men Chris Jaimes and Jadon Dumas has also been huge for the team. “They collectively do a great job controlling the pain,” he added.

Grayslake North update: Senior Sergio Janneau has emerged as a top, consistent performer for the Knights, coach Josh Feinzimer noted.

“Sergio didn’t get much playing time last year and is making the most of his opportunities this season,” he said. “He is currently third on the team in scoring, rebounding and steals. He’s definitely been a bright spot for us.”

Jayden Hunt continues to put points on the board, starting the week averaging 18 points a game.

“Jayden continues to score at a high clip,” Feinzimer said. “It says a lot about his toughness and determination during games when opposing teams key on him with their best defender, often times playing ‘no help’ on him, and he still finds a way to produce.”

North started the week 6-17 overall and 2-6 in NLCC play.

Lakes update: The Eagles were 6-3 and in third place in the Northern Lake County Conference through the end of last weekend, then knocked off league-leader Wauconda 63-59 on Tuesday night. “We hope to stay in the race,” Lakes coach Chris Snyder said.

Jimmy Kania had 20 points in a key win over Antioch, including a 6-for-6 effort from the foul line down the stretch to help ice the game. “Jimmy has been stepping up,” Snyder said. “He has been providing great leadership for the team.”

Drew Bowen, Snyder added, has provided a good spark off the bench. “Drew is performing his role very well and plays great defense for us. He is a reliable player who goes out and competes.”

Lakes (9-14 overall) shot 70% from 3 against Antioch. “That was nice to see because we’ve struggled shooting this year,” Snyder said.

Lake Zurich update: The Bears (15-6 overall) started the week tied for second in the North Suburban at 7-2.

Coach Terry Coughlin cited recent strong play from the likes of Anton Strelnikov and Ryan Carroll. Strelnikov had 24 points in a recent road nonconference loss to a strong York team.

“Anton is playing very well,” he said. “Ryan Carroll had to handle the ball-handling responsibilities this past weekend at the end of games and did a great job taking on tough defensive assignments and running our offense.”

Libertyville update: Liam Hanson, Ben Van Lyssel and Bryce Wegrzyn were cited for recent strong play by coach Brian Zyrkowski. Hanson averaged 16 points during a recent four-game stretch for the Wildcats (8-15, 2-7 and sixth in the NSC).

“Liam, Ben and Bryce have lifted the team both offensively and defensively,” Zyrkowski said. “The team, overall, is competing in every game, even though we are not winning many games. We have made a lot of improvements throughout the year, which makes us a threat on any given night. I am extremely proud of the continued growth I am seeing and the competitiveness we bring every game.”

Round Lake update: While improvements have been made throughout the season, Panthers coach Jack Hansa noted the team struggled a bit last week.

“Our guys have been taking big leaps forward every week and last week was the first week we took a step back with our loss to a really good Lakes team and a bad loss to Elgin where no one on our squad played how they would have liked,” he said.

Round Lake was 0-21 overall and 0-9 in Northern Lake County play to start the week.

Stevenson update: To start the week, Stevenson stood at 16-6 and in fourth in the conference at 6-3, then dropped a 49-39 decision to league-leader Lake Forest on Wednesday night.

“The conference is brutally tough this year,” Stevenson coach Will Benson said.

Jack Dabbs has been a shooting machine of late. He scored 31 points against Warren on 12-for-17 shooting from the floor and had 25 against Mundelein on 9-for-11 shooting. “Jack has been incredibly efficient,” Benson said.

In the Mundelein game, the Patriots had three players in double figures in scoring (Dabbs, Aidan Bardic and Atticus Richmond), five players with 5 rebounds or more (Richmond, Bardic, Dabbs, Rocco Pagliocca and Donnie Williams) and five guys with 3 assists or more (Richmond, Bardic, Dabbs, Pagliocca and Williams). “Against Mundelein, our balance showed through,” Benson said.

Vernon Hills update: The Cougars were 12-11 overall and 2-6 in Central Suburban North action to start the week. Vernon Hills lost to Niles North in a recent conference matchup. “Niles North is undefeated in conference and look to be on the path toward winning our side again,” Cougars coach Matt McCarty explained. “Despite missing Yaris Irby for an extended period, they are tough inside and have numerous shot-makers on the arc.”

Junior Tyler Perritt has been a fire-starter off the bench for the Cougars. He had 7 points against Niles North and 12 against Niles West. “Tyler came off the bench against Niles North to provide a much-needed spark,” McCarty said. “Dylan Chung is out indefinitely with a bad ankle sprain and Tyler has done a great job of giving us positive play with energy and scoring.”

McCarty thought senior forward Deen Hatibovic played his best overall game of the season against Niles North, finishing with 21 points and 8 boards.

Warren update: The Blue Devils continue to carry on, sitting at 22-4 overall and 7-2 in North Suburban Conference action behind 7-1 in Lake Forest. Warren is tied with Lake Zurich for second.

Individually, Jaxson Davis leads the team in scoring, assists and steals, while Javerion Banks, despite being a guard, is leading the team in rebounds.

Warren coach Zack Ryan said keys going forward are defense and rebounding the basketball. “We are just trying our best to defend and rebound at a high level,” he said.