Scouts get it done with 'D'

Those dribble-penetration moves by Matt Vogrich? Those 3-point shots by Vogrich, Kevin Gaughan, Andy Timson, Kevin Berardini, David Holmes and Conor Johnson?

That offensive execution by Lake Forest's basketball team?

Chalk it up to natural ability.

"We don't spend a whole lot of time on offense in practice," Scouts coach Phil LaScala said. "We spend a lot of time on defense, and our kids really do a good job of doing some different things on the defensive end."

That was apparent Friday night at Mundelein, as Lake Forest pulled away in the second half to post a 74-64 victory in North Suburban Lake Division action.

Mundelein (6-2, 2-1) came in averaging 80 points per game. Only a late surge got the Mustangs into the 60s.

"We didn't come out to play and then they played great 'D,' " Mustangs forward Navjot Singh said. "They played their game and we didn't play ours."

While Mundelein got double-doubles from Ben Brust (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Singh (18 points, 10 boards), Lake Forest (5-2, 2-1) received 20 points, 13 rebounds and 4 steals from Vogrich. Berardini added 17 points.

Vogrich scored 16 points in the first half in helping the Scouts take a 34-30 lead into the locker room.

"In the second half we just denied him the ball," Mundelein coach Dick Knar said of the junior forward. "That was our key the whole time: If someone's going to beat us, let it be someone else other than him."

And so it was.

After the Mustangs pulled within 42-41 midway through the third quarter, Gaughan out-fought a couple of players to score on a put-back, and Johnson followed with a 3.

Timson's three-point play capped a 9-0 run. Lake Forest took a 60-47 lead into the fourth and extended it to 21 points. Johnson hit a pair of 3s in the third, while Gaughan and Holmes drained one apiece.

"We just kind of stopped communicating and that led to open shots and penetration," Singh said. "We were just late closing out and they were hitting open shots."

"They obviously play at a frantic pace," LaScala said of the Mustangs. "We were very, very concerned all week of making sure that we stopped the ball on defense and then made sure that we boxed out, because for a small team they go to the boards better than anybody we play."

Lake Forest shot 54 percent from the floor (27 of 50) and hit nine 3s. Timson and Gaughan added 10 and 9 points, respectively. Holmes had 8 coming off the bench and fellow reserve Johnson scored 7.

Kevin Blackowicz scored 13 points (three 3s) coming off the bench for Mundelein.

While Knar said it was as bad as his team has played in two years, he also gave credit to the Scouts.

"I just don't think we were ready to go from the start, and then they put it to us," Knar said. "Give them tons of credit. They outplayed us -- rebounding, defense, running their offense, getting out on the break, getting loose balls. They won all of those battles."