Lake County boys basketball notes: Antioch wins 1st conference title since 1981
In 1981, both President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II had attempted assassinations carried out against them, the Iran hostage crisis ended, the first DeLorean car rolled off the production line, the first space shuttle launch occurred, MTV debuted on cable television, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first female Supreme Court Justice, the Oakland Raiders won the Super Bowl and the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series.
It was also the last year the Antioch boys basketball team won a conference championship.
That drought came to a close earlier this week. Antioch’s win over Round Lake secured it a 3-way split of the Northern Lake County Conference championship with Grayslake Central and Lakes. All three teams finished 11-3. That 1981 Antioch team qualified for the Class AA state tournament (finished 23-6 and lost to state-champion Quincy in the quarterfinals).
Antioch (conference losses to Wauconda, Lakes and Central) started the week having won four of its last five, with junior Marshall Gehrke having the particularly hot hand during a 4-game span, shooting 71% from the floor and leading the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game for that sample size.
Overall, Carter Webb leads Antioch (14-16) in scoring at 12.5 points, while Teddi Wetu is tops in rebounding at 4.3, steals (2.2) and free-throw shooting (71%) and Joel Bulka leads in assists (3.4), while Webb had made 59 threes to start the week.
Carmel update: During a recent 5-game stretch, Kaleb Jackson averaged 23 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, while shooting 61% from the floor, 50% from 3 and 83% from the foul line. The Corsairs started the week 11-19 and had won two of their last three East Suburban Catholic tilts.
Grant update: The Bulldogs started the week 10-16 overall and 6-8 in Northern Lake County play (fifth place). Landon Enters averages 12 points, Braylon Gray averages 10 points and Will Schubert averages 9 points. “Braylon, Landon and Will have been our top scorers all year,” Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said.
Grayslake Central update: A win against Wauconda secured a share of the NLCC title and pushed the Rams to 20-9 overall and 11-3 in Northern Lake County play (conference losses to Antioch in overtime, Wauconda and Lakes). Coach Brian Centella noted senior Cayden Woods has found a groove of late. He had 16 points and 8 boards in a big nonconference win over Hersey. Centella added that Xavi Granville continues to play at a high level, averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds a contest.
Grayslake North update: Uros Mitorvic, coach Josh Feinzimer noted, has been a bright spot for the Knights recently. He had 18 points against Round Lake and then scored all of his 17 points in the second half in a close loss to Vernon Hills. He also had 17 points in a loss in Lake Villa to Lakes. He shot 60% from 3 in the Lakes game. Jayden Hunt had a career-high 30 points against Vernon Hills.
North started the week 8-20 overall and 5-9 and in sixth place in the NLCC.
Feinzimer also has been pleased with North’s defensive advancement. He noted the Knights have held 12 of their last 14 opponents to 50 points or fewer.
Feinzimer also has seen improvement in the second round of NLCC games. North lost to Grayslake Central by 8 points after losing to them by 30 in the first meeting. The Knights lost to Lakes by a hoop after losing by double digits the first time.
Lakes update: Coach Chris Snyder’s group has had a nice recent run of 9 wins in a 10-game span, elevating it to securing a share of the NLCC title with Antioch and Grayslake Central. Lakes was 14-15 overall and 11-3 in NLCC play through mid-week (losses to Antioch, Wauconda and Central). Lakes started the season 1-7.
Notables of late for the Eagles include JJ Jackson and Jimmy Kania. “JJ has been our catalyst,” Snyder noted. “He might not score in bunches, but he defends extremely well and runs our offense. Jimmy has been hot during our stretch of good play. He hit the game-winner (this past Friday) and has stepped up his game and leadership for the team.”
Defense also has played a key role in the Eagles’ improvement. Teams were averaging 42 points per game against Lakes and shooting a poverty .340 from the floor during its recent run of strong play.
Lake Zurich update: The Bears figure into a potential wild North Suburban Conference finish this week. If Lake Zurich beat Warren Wednesday at home and Lake Forest (11-2 NSC) succumbs to Zion (0-13 NSC), a 3-way tie for first would occur with all three teams at 11-3. The Bears started the week a hearty 20-7 and 10-3 in league play.
Last weekend, Anton Strelnikov averaged 22 points and 7 rebounds, while Nick Popovic averaged 10 points and 6 assists. Ryan Carroll averaged 9 points, “and has been shooting it very well,” Bears coach Terry Coughlin said.
Mundelein update: Derek Bishop went into the week averaging a Daily Herald Lake County-best 23 points per game, while Evan Salvador was shooting 41% from 3 for the Mustangs (9-21 overall, 3-10 North Suburban).
Round Lake update: Coach Jack Hansa continues to see improvements from his Panthers squad that started the week 1-27 overall. “We had a little momentum going into our win a couple weeks ago and then started playing sloppy,” he explained. “However, we were able to put things back together this past weekend. We are looking forward to finishing the season on a strong note.” The Panthers play Zion-Benton in an opening round Class 4A regional game Monday.
Stevenson update: Patriots coach Will Benson cautions he sounds like a broken record with his continued remarks about the team’s balanced scoring.
But the numbers don’t lie. Aidan Bardic (14 points per game), Jack Dabbs (12.2 ppg), Rocco Pagliocca (10.8 ppg) and Atticus Richmond (10.3 ppg) give Stevenson four players in double figures. And here’s the kicker that backs those totals up. Those four players’ total shot attempts read 262, 259, 259 and 243.
“Pretty cool,” Benson said. “Our balance continues to amaze me.”
Stevenson started the week 19-8 overall and 9-4 in North Suburban action (fourth place), riding a 2-game winning streak.
Bardic had 18 points against Waukegan recently and 20 more against Libertyville. Dabbs also hit in double figures in those games with 14 and 12 points. Bardic also leads the team in assists, while Richmond is the team leader in rebounding. Pagliocca and Bardic both shot 37% from 3.
Vernon Hills update: A recent 3-1 run during a 4-game stretch had the Cougars at 16-12 to start the week and sitting in a three-way tie for third in the Central Suburban North with Highland Park and Maine East at 4-6.
Count Vernon Hills’ Deen Hatibovic as a member of the on-fire club. Dating back to a game against Niles North, Hatibovic has had scoring outputs of 20, 10, 24, 24, 13, 14 and 11 during a 7-game run. “Deen has had a great run of double-digit scoring games,” coach Matt McCarty noted.
Anthony Martorano had a varsity career-high 18 points in a key road win at Maine East. “Anthony has stepped up with Dylan Chung being out,” McCarty said.
Bryce Drexler also has been on the upswing in the scoring department. He has turned in scoring games of 11, 11, 9 and 11 points. “With Dylan being out, we have asked Bryce to look more to score,” McCarty said. “He has done that and has been more aggressive on offense. That has really helped us.”
Warren update: The Blue Devils were 26-4 overall and 11-2 in NSC play at week’s beginning, riding a 6-game winning streak.
Coach Zack Ryan likes how Jack Wolf has played on the defensive end of late. “Jack has really defended and rebounded well for us lately,” he said.
Freshman star Jaxson Davis leads Warren in scoring (19.4 points), assists (5.3) and steals (3.4).
Lake County Postseason Sectional Seeds
Class 4A: Warren (1, sub-sectional, regional host), Lake Zurich (3, regional host), Stevenson (4), Mundelein (5, sub-sectional), Libertyville (6, sub-sectional), Grant (7, sub-sectional), Round Lake (9, sub-sectional)
Class 3A: Grayslake Central (6), Wauconda (8), Carmel (9, regional host), Vernon Hills (10), Antioch (11), Lakes (13), Grayslake North (16)
Lake County vs. Lake County first-round action: Wauconda and Carmel square off Wednesday, Feb. 21 in the semifinals of the Carmel regional.