Basketball: Rams sweep boys, girls doubleheader to claim Grayslake bragging rights

Host Grayslake North was hoping to get its 2025-26 Northern Lake County Conference boys basketball schedule started off on the right foot Friday night against crosstown rival Grayslake Central.

But the Rams (3-3, 1-0) had different plans as they were able to stymie the Knights on their way to a 48-30 NLCC victory behind an outstanding effort on the defensive end of the court.

Senior guard Alex Granville got Grayslake Central rolling with 9 of his game-high 17 points in the first half as the Rams took a 23-15 lead into halftime.

Then the Rams started off the third quarter with a 9-0 run as a basket off a steal by Aidan Bechard (10 points) gave Central a commanding 32-15 lead over the Knights (3-2, 0-1).

"I really believe in what our team can be, especially defensively, and our coaching staff worked hard with the scouting report," said Grayslake Central coach Brian Centella, whose team led 38-19 after three quarters. "He (Granville) has been up with us since his sophomore year, and he puts his heart on the floor every time he steps on the floor."

Granville scored on a Euro-step drive to give the Rams their biggest lead at 40-21 with about six minutes to play to pretty much kill any hopes that North had for a dramatic comeback.

"Our approach was really to space the floor so we could get easy driving lanes and back door's," said Granville, whose team had revenge on their minds. "And after they beat us last year in the first round of the playoffs we wanted to get back at them."

Senior Uros Mitrovic had 9 points and 7 rebounds for the Knights while sophomore teammate Jared Van Donselaar also had 9 points. Grayslake North got 7 points and 5 rebounds from Rees Jorden. Central teammates Carson Woods and Owen Perz scored 7 and 6 points, respectively.

"I think in a lot of ways it was a learning experience for us. We're young and we have two sophomores starting," said Grayslake North coach Josh Feinzimer, whose team had 4 turnovers in the third quarter. "Give them credit, they took us out of a lot of things we wanted to do, and they did a good job of guarding Uros."

Girls game: Grayslake Central stormed ahead to a 19-5 lead after one quarter before outscoring the Knights 18-6 in the third quarter to take a commanding 43-17 lead into the final period.

From there the Rams (3-3, 1-0) rolled to a 53-25 victory as part of the final quarter was played with a running clock. The Knights' record fell to 1-6 overall and 0-1 in the NLCC.

Junior Peyton Hoffmann had a game-high 13 points and 6 rebounds for Grayslake Central while teammate Ava Henne hit double figures with 11 points. The Rams also got 8 points and 6 rebounds from senior Mosey Drevline.

Grayslake North was led by senior Lucy Roscoe with 9 points while junior teammate Ashlyn Stoneham had 7 points.

"We're still kind of getting into a rhythm as far as chemistry, and we had three starters graduate who started for three straight years," said Grayslake Central coach Steve Ikenn. "I thought we did a nice job in terms of getting people into the offense, and when you have five people on the floor who can score you are hard to stop."