Lake boys basketball notes: Grant surging coming into second half; Grayslake Central impresses at Hinkle

After a strong showing over the holidays, Grant kept the momentum rolling earlier this week with a 73-68 come-from-behind win against Clinton (Wisconsin) in a contest that saw the Bulldogs chasing 17 points at halftime.

Grant outscored Clinton, west of Delavan on the way to Beloit, 50-29 in the second half to pick up its eighth win in its last 10 games.

“We are a team that is starting to click,” Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said. “This is a team that believes it is going to win and never quits.”

Grant (10-6, 3-1 Northern Lake County) went 3-1 and won the consolation championship at the Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs in Algonquin. Grant downed Bartlett, Larkin and Johnsburg there.

Damarrion Smith earned all-tournament honors at Jacobs, averaging 18 points a game there. Sophomore Charles Schlicht averaged 16.3 points in the tournament, while Braylon Gray clocked in at 12.5 points per game over the holidays. Smith had a game-high 31 points against Clinton, including 27 in the second half and 17 in the fourth-quarter alone to lead the charge back.

Bosworth pointed out all the team’s wins at Jacobs were single-possession games with 3 minutes to go in regulation.

“The guys only want to get better and keep working,” he added.

Carmel update: Carmel took third out of 16 teams at Maine East over the holidays. The Corsairs (4-10, 0-3 East Suburban Catholic) finished with a 3-1 mark there. Carmel beat Grayslake North in the third-place game.

Ethan Matz, a 6-3 junior, and Ethan Henderson, a 6-6 senior, were Maine East all-tournament selections.

Antioch update: The Sequoits went 0-2 at the Motor City Roundball Classic outside Detroit over the holidays.

While Antioch was 5-7 overall to start the new year, it started a strong 3-0 in Northern Lake County action before losing to Grayslake Central on Wednesday with the back-half of the season kicking into full gear.

Coach Sean Connor has been pleased with the play of late of senior Marshall Gehrke and junior Mark Render. Gehrke is averaging 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 charges taken per game.

“Marshall has been filling up the stat sheet while being our best defender,” Connor said.

Render averaged 12 points over the holiday break and recently registered his second 20-point game of the season against Benet Academy.

Grayslake Central update: The Rams (10-4, 4-0 NLCC) went 2-2 and lost in the third-place game to Barrington at the Hinkle Classic. Coach Brian Centella was impressed with his squad’s win in Algonquin against a Geneva team that came into the tournament with an 11-0 record.

Chris Jaimes was named to the Hinkle all-tournament team. He’s averaging 15 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

“Chris Jaimes has been fantastic,” Centella said.

Eric Brum has been another Rams key. He averages 4 assists against only 1 turnover per game. “Eric has been so good at the point-guard position for us,” Centella said. “He does everything on the floor.”

Centella likes what he has seen so far from his team. “We are starting to buy into a defensive identity and we are really balanced offensively,” he said. “If our juniors continue to develop, we have a chance to continue to improve as the season moves on.”

Grayslake North update: The Knights (10-7, 3-1 Northern Lake County) finished fourth out of 16 teams at the Maine East tournament with a 2-2 record. North defeated Morton Grove-based MCC Academy and North Chicago and dropped games to Sandburg and Carmel.

Jayden Hunt and Uros Mitrovic earned all-tournament honors. Hunt had 30 points in the MCC win. Mitrovic and Hunt combined for 132 points during the tournament. Hunt led the team in assists, while Mitrovic led in rebounds.

Coach Josh Feinzimer was impressed with David Magnuson as well. He chipped in a season-high 14 points in the Carmel game, including a 4-for-7 effort from the 3-point line.

The Knights are holding opponents to an average of 47 points per game. “We continue to play good defense each game,” Feinzimer said.

Lakes update: Sophomore Ben Newcomb is shooting 50 percent from 3 and is Lakes’ second-leading scorer at 11.6 points per game.

“For a sophomore, Ben doesn’t shy away from the big shot and has the confidence to step up and take it,” Lakes coach Chris Snyder said.

Continuing on the 3-point theme, Aidan Hopkins is shooting 43 percent from behind the line for the Eagles (5-8, 3-1).

“Aidan has done a great job as well,” Snyder pointed out. “He has worked his way into a starting position and is one of our best on-ball defenders.”

Snyder added, team-wise, Lakes is continuing to focus on competing in all that it does, while bringing great effort and energy.

“We have a busy month coming up and are looking forward to continued growth as a team,” he said.

Lake Zurich update: Here is a stat you don’t see every day. Lake Zurich is averaging about 7 turnovers a game.

“Our turnover percentage is fantastic,” Bears coach Terry Coughlin said.

Lake Zurich took fourth at the 50th Jack Tosh Holiday Classic at York in Elmhurst and scored wins against Lemont and St. Ignatius.

Kain Kretschmar and Connor Strauss were all-tournament at York for the Bears (7-8, 1-3 NSC). Kretschmar averaged about 15 points and 5 rebounds at York, while Strauss was at 12 points and 5 rebounds.

“Kain and Connor, obviously, were very good,” Coughlin said. “Connor continuously was guarding NCAA Division I recruits on the opponent’s team.”

Mundelein update: Mundelein has been without top player Derek Bishop, who injured his knee in an early and notable North Suburban Conference win against Stevenson. Coach Matt Badgley said Bishop is out for an unknown period of time.

The Mustangs (6-9, 1-2 North Suburban) played in the competitive Collinsville holiday tournament where they went 1-3. Mundelein lost by nine to Lincoln and by three in overtime to Granite City.

Badgley was pleased with a win by close to 20 points against Carbondale after having played Granite City an hour-and-a-half earlier. Mundelein wrapped up play with a loss to Rockford East.

Badgley said senor Evan Salvador is playing a “very consistent, leader-driven game,” while junior LaQuan Smith “is stepping up his offense,” and senior Nathan Hauf “is beginning to show what we have been waiting on offensively,” he said. “We are gaining more from a few more players in Bishop’s absence that we hope can improve us.”

Round Lake update: The Panthers (0-13, 0-4 Northern Lake County) went 0-4 at the Maine East Christmas tournament action, but lost one of those games in overtime to Northside Prep.

Jaquan Jamerson scored in double figures in every game at Maine East, while Julian Jones hit double figures twice. Jamerson, a sophomore, continues to lead the Panthers in points, assists, rebounds and steals.

Stevenson update: Aidan Bardic is closing in on 1,000 career points for the Patriots. He was sitting at 929 entering the week and is looking to become the seventh player to hit that benchmark in program history.

Stevenson (9-6, 3-1 North Suburban) went 2-2 at Wheeling over the holidays, beating Notre Dame (65-47) and Libertyville (77-45) and losing to Fremd (59-57) and St. Viator (58-49) in the fifth-place game.

Atticus Richmond earned Wheeling all-tournament honors after leading the entire field in rebounding.

“Atticus played well,” Stevenson coach Will Benson said.

Benson also lauded the play of Liam Curtin, and noted Rocco Pagliocca is back and healthy. Pagliocca hit for 23 points in the Fremd game.

Stevenson has 4 players averaging double figures with a fifth threatening to join the group, Benson pointed out.

The Patriots host Warren in a key North Suburban game Friday.

Vernon Hills update: The Cougars (10-6, 2-1 Central Suburban South) went 3-1 at Maine East, with wins against Northside Prep and Niles West, a loss to Carmel, and a win against Summit Argo in the fifth-place game.

“I loved our resiliency in the Niles West game,” Cougars coach Matt McCarty said. “We got down early, 16-4, but slowly dug out of the hole and probably played one of our best second halves of the season.”

Vernon Hills started the new year having won five of its last six games.

Senior guard Tyler Perritt was named to the all-tournament team. He had 23 points against Northside, 20 against Antioch, 18 points against Argo and 17 against Northside.

“Tyler has been on a real tear and has elevated our team,” McCarty said.

Junior point guard Jeremy Zamost, McCarty noted, had his best game of the year with a 16-point, 4-assist showing against Argo.

In the Antioch game junior center Daniel Odhiambo had 13 points (on 6-for-10 shooting), 9 rebounds and 4 blocks in the 53-38 win.

Warren update: The Blue Devils went 4-0 and won the Proviso West tournament for the second year in a row. Warren had a key win against Lincoln Park, which was highly ranked and 13-2 overall at the time.

Sophomore Jaxson Davis was named tournament MVP for the second year in a row, while Jack Wolf also earned all-tournament accolades for Warren (11-3, 2-1 North Suburban).

Zach Ausburn averaged a double-double at Proviso West, hitting for 13.5 points and 11.3 rebounds during the four games.