Mundelein downs Cary-Grove to snap losing streak

Miss a minute, miss a lot.

Early 3-pointers by Mundelein freshman guard Robert Knar and junior guard Leavon Head coupled with 2 quick fouls whistled against Cary-Grove leading scorer Chad McCarron foreshadowed what was to come in the Mustangs' 79-65 victory over the Trojans in a pool play game at the Jacobs Holiday Tournament Saturday.

Mundelein (6-4) snapped a 3-game losing streak by using defensive pressure to force 18 Cary-Grove turnovers, and it finished with a 31-20 rebounding advantage that included 14 offensive boards. The Mustangs led 22-12 after a quarter, 44-27 at the half and ballooned their lead to 25 points early in the fourth quarter before Cary-Grove (3-6) rallied late.

"I thought our energy level was good," Mustangs coach Richard Knar said. "We had a little lull in the second half. To us, it comes with the pressure we put on people defensively. When we defend them with good pressure and get in the passing lanes we do a good job defensively."

Mundelein junior center Robert Sawvell (6-foot-7) was a force. He scored 18 points to go with 13 rebounds, 7 offensive. His contributions, along with those of Iowa-bound guard Ben Brust (20 points, 4 steals) and Robert Knar (17 points, three 3-pointers) proved to be too much for the Trojans.

"They're athletic. They're superior to us physically," Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schuetzle said. "They just keep bringing guys off the bench and some of their bench guys could start for us."

Hitting the boards was Sawvell's aim from the start.

"When we were in the locker room coach Knar was telling me that I should be having a field day on these guys," Sawvell said. "I just wanted to make sure I did my job today and we pulled out a W."

McCarron scored 16 of his team-high 18 points in the second half, supported by Ryan Barker's 16 points and 7 rebounds. McCarron and Barker were part of Cary-Grove's state championship football team and are just rounding into basketball shape.

"With me and Barker coming back so late every team has a three-week jump on us, but we're getting there," McCarron said. "They did very well with pressure and their offensive rebounding just killed us. Every possession they had two or three shots. We have to get better on the glass. Other than their first run we played pretty well."

Cary-Grove narrowed the Mundelein lead to 50-37 in the third quarter after consecutive baskets by McCarron, but Brust answered with three 3-pointers in a span of 1:59 to push the lead back to 19.

Cary-Grove continues pool play against Bartlett on Monday at 4:30 p.m. Mundelein will face Woodstock at 6 p.m.