State Farm Holiday Classic and Grant tournament
They might want to start calling him "Mike D."
While Grayslake Central's Mike Davis scored in double figures for the second straight game in the State Farm Holiday Classic, the senior guard has been earning a reputation for his stellar defense this season.
Davis' "D" earned praise again Thursday night in the Rams' 49-34 win over Sterling at Normal West.
Grayslake Central has reached the semifinals and will play De La Salle at 9 p.m. today at Illinois Wesleyan University's Shirk Center.
Davis helped limit Joseph Bertrand to 6 points. Bertrand is a 6-foot-4 junior who's made a verbal commitment to Illinois.
"Mike Davis has been doing that all year long," said Grayslake Central coach Tim Bowen, noting Davis helped hold Northern Iowa-bound John Moran of Jacobs to 8 points.
"He's making a career out of not allowing players to look like they're supposed to look."
Andrew Sipes led Grayslake Central offensively with 15 points, while Kevin O'Rourke and Davis added 12 and 11, respectively.
The Rams (8-3, 2-0) led only 16-14 at halftime, but then outscored the Golden Warriors 15-9 in the third quarter and 18-11 in the fourth in winning for the sixth time in seven games.
"I was pretty happy with the way we moved the ball around," Bowen said. "We showed a lot of patience and poise on offense, and the kids played phenomenal defense."
Lakes 63, R-B 34: At Grant, Trey Williams had 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals for the Eagles.
Lakes (7-4, 2-0) also got a double-double from Kevin Guirand, who had 12 points and 12 rebounds, in addition to 5 assists and 2 steals. John Androus added 10 points, while Dan Kalb contributed 6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks. Kevin Rice had 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists.
The Eagles started the game with a 10-2 run and never looked back. The Eagles held Richmond-Burton to 2 second-quarter points en route to their sixth straight win.
Lakes plays Northridge Prep at 1 p.m. today.
McHenry 67, Grant 56: When the Grant Holiday Tournament field was set, the host Bulldogs had one goal in mind: to repeat last year's championship performance.
Thursday night's result against McHenry may not give Grant the opportunity, as the Warriors outplayed the Bulldogs and came out with a 67-56 victory in the second game of tournament pool play for each team in Fox Lake.
The result left Grant coach Phil Ralston looking for an answer afterward.
"I'm going to be honest with you, I have no pearls of wisdom for tonight's game, other than the fact that our kids are capable of playing much better than they did tonight," said Ralston.
A wise person may point to the display of free-throw shooting that McHenry (5-5) put on down the stretch. The Warriors converted 80 percent of their free throws in the fourth quarter, led by senior guard Pat Bellich, who nailed all 8 free throws in the final period. Bellich ended up with a game-high 23 points.
The Warriors also played great team defense on Grant's Mike Shields, holding the senior guard to 4 points.
Grant (7-4) put its best stretch of basketball together in the third quarter. With the Bulldogs down 13 after a 9-2 McHenry run, senior Nick Mason stole a pass and took it coast-to-coast to get the Bulldogs charged for a comeback.
Later, Shields dished to Curtis Oler (team-high 19 points) for a hook shot to cap a 13-2 spurt and cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 44-42.
McHenry started the fourth quarter with a 3 pointer by Bellich and a three-point play from senior forward Zach Borter (12 points) to make it 50-42. Grant was only able to trim the lead to 7 the rest of the way.
The Warriors got 12 points out of guard Ryan McNaughton and 10 from forward Chris Madson.
One other main contributor for the Bulldogs was junior forward Gilbert Sheehan, who poured in 13 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.
"Gilbert played the way that he is capable of playing tonight." Ralston said. "He was very aggressive and we need that kind of effort out of him."
McHenry is now the only undefeated team left in White Pool Play at 2-0. The Warriors can clinch a championship-game spot with a victory over Grayslake North today (5 p.m.).
Grant (1-1 in pool play) will take on Round Lake at 7 p.m. in the final game of pool play.
"We're not going to get too down over this," Ralston said. "We just hope this gets the kids to wake up as tomorrow is a new day. We're looking at trying to win these two remaining basketball games in the tournament."
-- Matt Misiek
Mundelein 76, Wauconda 56: At Jacobs, sophomore Ben Brust scored a season-high 26 points, as the Mustangs (9-4) improved to 2-1 in the tournament.
Brust sank five 3-pointers, including four in the third quarter in helping Mundelein extend its 34-22 halftime lead to 59-42 heading into the fourth.
Kevin Blackowicz also sank five 3s for the Mustangs to account for his 15 points. Navjot Singh had 10 in the win.
Bryce Lahrman had 19 points to lead Wauconda (5-8, 0-3), which dropped its fifth straight game. Eric Grozavescu chipped in 15, while Scott Wahl and Connor Dimick each had 8.
Today at Jacobs, Wauconda plays Marian Central at 9 a.m., while Mundelein faces Woodstock at 3 p.m.
Deerfield 52, Vernon Hills 50: At Wheeling, the Cougars' comeback fell short.
Vernon Hills trailed 41-29 after three quarters, but got back in the game as Kenny Rideout scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the final eight minutes.
Vernon Hills' Riaz Hoveydai sank two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, finishing with 14 points.
Deerfield got 20 points from Max Burgess.
Vernon Hills fell to 5-6 overall and 0-2 in the Hardwood Classic.
Lake Park 42, Carmel 39: At Wheeling, the Corsairs lost a tough one, as they were outscored 11-2 in the fourth quarter.
Jonathan Huisel and Jack Baucus each scored 8 points for Carmel (2-12, 0-2), which lost its seventh straight game.
De La Salle 55, LF 45: In the State Farm Holiday Classic, Matt Vogrich's 18 points led all scorers but Lake Forest still fell.
Kevin Berardini added 11 for the Scouts. De La Salle got 15 points from Rich Fisher.