Guirand, Lakes return to form

Take notice: Lakes senior forward Kevin Guirand is back after missing a game with a foot injury.

In fact, K.G. seemed to be almost at full strength, scoring 23 points and pulling down 7 rebounds on Friday night.

Another Eagles player with the first name of Kevin (Rice) dropped in a career-best five 3-pointers for 15 points as the Eagles reached the .500 mark with a 75-56 victory over Round Lake in a North Suburban Prairie game in Lake Villa.

Guirand started his comeback by making a pair of 3-pointers in the opening quarter. He took over from there by getting inside for the rest of his scoring.

"I think I'm 85 percent and I think I'll be good by the Grant Christmas tournament," Guirand said. "When I started the game, I thought I was back. But when I jumped up and came down on it, I started to feel (soreness) again.

"I usually go in the post most of the time because that's where the team needs me. I was able to shoot a couple of 3s and I was having fun out there."

The Eagles (4-4, 2-1) led 17-15 despite committing 8 of their 20 turnovers.

"This wasn't our best first quarter," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said. "The energy wasn't there and it's something we've got to correct. It's uncharacteristic for us to start with that many turnovers. We settled down once we figured out how to set up timely passes. We got over it by the second half."

Actually, the Eagles started pulling away in the second quarter after leading 19-18. Trey Williams (11 points) made 4 straight free throws and Dan Kalb (8 points) added a couple of medium-range jumpers which started an 18-9 spurts and led to a 37-27 Lakes lead at the half.

Lakes pulled away from Round Lake (1-7, 0-2) in the first few minutes of the third quarter when Rice nailed 4-of-5 three-pointers in a 13-4 run, giving the Eagles a 50-31 lead with 5:17 left.

"My first half was terrible -- I couldn't even catch the ball," said Rice, who was scoreless in the first half. "Second half, I was saying to myself, 'I know I can do this.' I knew I could step up and make the shots.

"Once I made the first one, I was saying, 'Here it comes,' and then I knew I was feeling it."

Jerome Brown led Round Lake way with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Jeff Nicoline and Javier Martinez each had 8 points.

The Eagles' John Androus chipped in with 13 and Williams had 11.