Boys basketball: Grayslake Central bounces back from tough loss with impressive win over Libertyville

After losing by three points at Wauconda Wednesday night, host Grayslake Central came out fired up for its nonconference boys basketball game against Libertyville Friday night.

The Rams were on fire in the opening quarter as senior Alex Granville scored 11 of his game high 17 points, including three 3-pointers to help stake the Rams to a 24-10 lead after one period.

Grayslake Central (12-6) was never seriously threatened after that point as it built a 38-22 lead at halftime, and a 49-30 lead after three quarters before cruising to a 55-42 victory as the Wildcats cleared their bench with seven minutes to play trailing 51-30 at that point.

"I was really proud of the guys. We came out and really played well to start the game and that always helps," said Grayslake Central coach Brian Centella, whose team led 31-10 early in the second quarter after a 10-point run. "I think for us defensively is the way that we set the tone, and I thought we made things really tough for them to start. And that kind of got some runout steals and some easier baskets and I think that helped us gain some confidence in the first half that carried into the third quarter."

Driving baskets by seniors Carson Woods (10 of 14 points in first half), and Cole Halverson (15 points) to open the second half tied the Rams' biggest lead at 43-22 just 27 seconds into the period.

Then Libertyville (9-6) went on an 8-1 run to cut the lead to 44-30 on a rebound basket by 6-foot-9 senior Bryce Wegrzyn (team high 14 points) with 4:09 left in the quarter. But Grayslake Central was relentless as a driving hoop by Halverson capped a 7-point run to make the score 51-30 with 7:23 to play.

"We all just played together, and we were all locked in on the defensive end to stop their big man (Wegrzyn)," said Halverson, whose team cleared their bench with 4:10 remaining. "We wanted to attack them hard going to the basket and it really paid off for us."

Junior reserve Brandon Leyva scored 9 points for the Wildcats on three 3-pointers while starting guard Nick Farmakis chipped in 5 points. Libertyville outscored the Rams 12-6 in the fourth quarter while a lot of free substitution was going on by both squads.

"The better team won tonight. I think they played a great game, they had a great game plan, and they executed very well," said Libertyville coach Brian Zyrkowski, whose team is at Warren on Saturday.

"No games are free in this season for us. We need to play well every single night and I thought that their team played great. They came out shooting the ball very well. They came off a loss to Wauconda in a very close game and they came into this game with a little edge defending their home court so you have to give them credit for their effort, their attitude, and their energy."