Girls basketball: Vernon Hills rolls past Lakes

Top-seeded host Vernon Hills was not taking anything to chance when the Cougars faced No. 10 Lakes for the IHSA Class 3A girls basketball regional championship Friday night.

Vernon Hills was impressive at both ends of the court as they put together an incredible first quarter to build a 29-0 lead over the Eagles, who trailed 29-2 after one quarter and 40-2 at halftime.

After that, the Cougars (22-7) were able to coast to the sixth regional crown in school history by a score of 60-12 as the fourth quarter was played with a running clock.

Vernon Hills will play host Grayslake Central (21-9) in the sectional semifinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday while Lakes closed out its season with a 10-22 record.

Junior Emma Jocson was a spark plug for the Cougars as she scored 13 of her game-high 15 points in the first half to help stake her squad to the insurmountable 38-point lead at the intermission.

Sophomore Reagan Brettner's third 3-pointer made the score 47-2 in the third quarter as Brettner and sophomore teammate Eve Engler scored 9 points apiece. Vernon Hills' balanced scoring attack also saw seniors Keira Thomas and Madison Mays score 8 points each. Senior Wrenna Streicher led Lakes with 4 points.

“This whole season we've worked so hard and we knew that we earned that No. 1 seed because we put the work in for this moment,” said Jocson, whose team led 57-8 after three quarters. “We've just got to stay locked in (against Grayslake Central), we've got to play together, keep communicating on defense, and we've just got to play our game.”

Vernon Hills coach Paul Brettner was happy with the fire his team came out with to start the game, and he knows his squad has a tough challenge at Grayslake Central.

“I couldn't be happier with the way the kids jumped out, I mean they were ready after losing to Niles North and Maine South in the last two games (of the regular season),” said Brettner, whose program has two second-place IHSA state trophies. “The crowd (at Grayslake Central) will be something, I'm sure they'll get a bunch of students there, and they've got a really good team.”

Despite the lopsided loss, Lakes coach Grant Murray was happy his team was able to beat Grayslake North to reach the regional title game.

“That's a really talented basketball team (Vernon Hills), that's one of the most disciplined and active teams that we've played all year,” said Murray. “To be a nine-win team during the regular season it says a lot about the leadership of our three seniors to get to the regional championship. It hurts right now, but I think this is going to be a valuable experience for our sophomores and freshmen to motivate them and build off of.”