Lake County boys basketball notes: Antioch, Grayslake Central off to fast starts in NLCC race; GN’s Hunt reaches 1,000

The Antioch boys basketball team is on a roll, winners of 5 games in a row after a 58-31 win Monday over Nicholas Senn High School in the Edgewater neighborhood on the north side of Chicago.

Senior Jason Lee pumped in 16 points on 8-for-9 shooting and had 10 rebounds. During a recent 3-game span, Lee is averaging 17.7 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals while shooting 74% from the field for the Sequoits (5-3, 3-0 Northern Lake County). Heading into the week, Lee was shooting 65% from the field and 71% from the foul line.

Teddi Wetu had 13 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals against Senn. Wetu came into the week averaging 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 3.5 assists per game. Antioch coach Sean Connor pointed out the team’s 5-game win streak coincided with Wetu moving to point guard. “He sacrificed scoring to run our team,” he said.

Wetu had a career-high 32 points against Prospect and also hit for 29 against Libertyville prior to the move to point guard. Junior Mark Render had a breakout game against Zinon earlier with 26 points.

Two of Antioch’s three losses were without Marshall Gehrke, who was gone over Thanksgiving with a BMX commitment, Connor noted. Gehrke is a competitive BMX bike racer.

Antioch (5-3 overall) is 3-0 in Northern Lake County action and tied for first with Grayslake Central. The Sequoits head to Detroit for Christmas at the Motor City Roundball Classic where they will play 2 games in a shootout format before returning home.

Carmel update: Carmel started the week 0-8 and 0-2 in East Suburban Catholic action, but positives are present.

“Our team is struggling to score points right now,” Corsairs coach Mike Wasielewski said. “This is my first year at Carmel, but it’s my 20th year coaching/teaching high school. I’ve never had a start like this, but the guys have been resilient and come back to practice after every game ready to work.”

Ethan Matz and Ethan Henderson, two of Carmel’s more veteran players, have been playing well in the early going, the coach noted.

Carmel heads to Maine East for Christmas.

Grant update: The Bulldogs will head over to Algonquin for the Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs.

“This is a great tournament with a lot of very good teams,” Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said. “We feel we have a chance to be very competitive in this tournament and are looking forward to it.”

Grant is 5-5 overall after a 65-56 win at next-door-neighbor Johnsburg earlier this week. The Bulldogs were off to a 2-1 start in Northern Lake County action as well. That win gave Grant 4 wins in its last 5 games. The only blip was a loss to Antioch where Grant couldn’t dig itself out of an early hole, despite outscoring the Sequoits 31-18 in the second half and losing by five.

“We are a team that is just beginning to find ourselves,” Bosworth explained. “We had an adjustment period having to learn to play without Landon Enters (all-conference senior guard out with a recent knee injury). We believe we are beginning to find our stride again and look forward to a strong second-half of the season.”

Braylon Gray, all-tournament at Thanksgiving, has stepped things up since Enters went down. He’s averaging more than 18 points and 4 rebounds since Enters was injured. Junior Damarrion Smith also has been key, averaging more than 12 points and 5 rebounds in that same span.

“Braylon and Damarrion have really stepped up their play,” Bosworth said.

Grayslake Central update: Central coach Brian Centella calls Eric Brum and Chris Jaimes “exactly what we have needed,” he said. “Eric takes the challenge of defending the other team’s best guard. He has done a tremendous job defensively and also controls everything we do on offense. He is such a great passer and has a great feel for the game.”

Jaimes is averaging 2.5 blocks per game as a defensive stalwart for the Rams (7-1 overall, 3-0 tie for first Northern Lake County).

“Chris has been dominant defensively inside,” Centella said. “We have a defensive-minded group that is committed to getting better on that end of the floor.”

The Rams head to the Hinkle Holiday Classic over Christmas break. “It’s a great tournament with some very good teams,” noted Centella, whose team went 3-0 at the Crystal Lake Central Thanksgiving tournament. “We hope to get on the winners side of the bracket and face some tough competition.”

Grayslake North update: Senior Jayden Hunt went over the 1,000-point total in his career in a game against Lakes where he hit for 15 points, including a key 3-pointer in the fourth that gave the Knights some breathing room.

“Jayden continues to be at the top of every team’s scouting report,” North coach Josh Feinzimer said. “He still finds ways to stuff the stat sheets and lead us on the floor.”

Senior Brady Ballentine (team leader in charges taken) hit for a career-high 18 points in a win against Johnsburg and had 13 points in a road win over Wauconda. “Brady has taken huge steps forward and has been our most improved player by far,” Feinzimer said.

Defense has been the name of the game thus far for the Knights, who were 6-4 overall after a 45-38 nonconference loss to Wilmot (Wisconsin) Union Tuesday. North headed into the week allowing an average of 42 points a game.

“We are defending at a high level this season,” said Feinzimer, who called the 42-point total “exceptional.”

“We’ve made a commitment to defense and work on it tirelessly every day. That’s been our calling card so far this season.”

North (2-1 Northern Lake County) heads to the Maine East tournament over the holidays where Lake County brethren Vernon Hills will be part of the field. “This is a very competitive field,” Feinzimer said. “We feel like we can compete with the teams there and know that if we want to be successful during playoff time, we have to pick up some signature wins at the tournament.”

Lakes update: Jason Klimas has enjoyed a big start to the season for the Eagles, averaging 13.6 points and 7 rebounds. He was all-tournament at the Lakes-hosted Thanksgiving tournament.

“Most possessions, the ball is going through Jason,” coach Chris Snyder noted.

Sophomore Ben Newcomb is the team’s second-leading scorer at 11.5 points per game. He’s also shooting 60% from 3.

“Ben has hit some big shots for us and isn’t afraid to take the big shot,” said Snyder, whose team is 3-6 overall and 2-1 in NLCC play after a 61-35 loss to Fremd Tuesday as part of the Lakes Martin Luther King tournament.

Lake Zurich update: The Bears open play at the York Jack Tosh Holiday Classic Dec. 26 against Lemont.

“As of midweek last week, 10 of the 32 teams had either no losses or one loss,” Lake Zurich coach Terry Coughlin said. “The Tosh will be one of the most competitive tournaments in the area.”

Lake Zurich was 2-6 overall and 0-3 in North Suburban play through midweek. A pair of bright spots for Coughlin’s squad have been Kain Kretschmar and Connor Strauss.

Kretschmar had 19 points against Libertyville recently, while Strauss, Coughlin noted, has continued his “incredible defense and consistency on the offensive end,” he said.

Strauss was an all-tournament pick over Thanksgiving at Loyola Academy.

Libertyville update: The Wildcats were off to a nice 6-1 start in their first 7 games and will head to Wheeling at Christmas to face Streamwood in the first round. Libertyville was 5-0 at the time of seeding there.

Junior Bryce Wegrzyn is averaging 19 points and 9 rebounds, while Liam Hanson is at 11 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds for the Wildcats (1-1 North Suburban).

Coach Brian Zyrkowski also has been thrilled with Libertyville’s bench play. “Overall, the team has benefited from balanced scoring in all our wins.”

Round Lake update: While the Panthers (0-6, 0-2 Northern Lake County) don’t have a win yet, coach Jack Hansma is seeing plenty of progress.

One key part of that progress has been Jaquan Jamerson, who leads the team in scoring (15 points), rebounds (4 per game), steals (3 per game) and assists (2 per game).

“The emergence of Jaquan has been big for us, keeping us in the game on both ends of the court,” Hansma said. “The team has been in a lot of competitive games compared to last year because of not just him, but everyone else contributing after a great offseason.”

Julian Jones is Round Lake’s second-leading scorer at 7 points per game. The Panthers play at Maine East for Christmas. “We finished last in the tournament last year and we are hoping for a better result this year and seeing our team’s progress,” Hansma said.

Stevenson update: With Rocco Pagliocca out to start the season, Stevenson coach Will Benson noted a host of players have stepped up. Benson pointed out the Patriots have close to four players averaging double figures in points: Aidan Bardic (17 points, 4.5 assists, 46% from 3), Atticus Richmond (11 points, 9 rebounds), Donny Williams (11 points, 37% from 3) and Liam Curtin (9 points).

“That’s pretty balanced scoring,” Benson said. “We’ve had several guys step up.”

Bardic was an all-tournament pick at Palatine Thanksgiving. “Aidan has played really well overall,” Benson said.

Stevenson, 6-3 after a nonconference win against Lockport Tuesday, is off to Wheeling for Christmas action. “There are a lot of really good teams there,” said Benson, whose squad opens against Niles Notre Dame and then plays either Fremd or Hampshire in the second round.

The Patriots were off to a 2-1 start in North Suburban action.

Vernon Hills update: The Cougars head to Maine East for the holidays to defend their 2023 title there. Vernon Hills opens with Northside College Prep.

“It looks like a very solid field with a good mix of teams,” Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. “Hoffman Estates is probably the favorite. I think we are in the upper half of the field and are looking forward to our opening game.”

Vernon Hills was 5-3 overall and off to a 1-1 start in Central Suburban North action with late-week games against Libertyville and Maine East on the schedule.

McCarty has been pleased with the play of senior guard Tyler Perritt and junior center Daniel Odhiambo. “Tyler is an outstanding open-court player,” he said. “He is a slasher to the basket in our offense and adept at finishing around the rim. Daniel missed our first 6 games, but he is excited to be back on the floor. He gives us a shot blocker in the paint and more size for rim protection.”

Odhiambo had 3 blocks and 7 rebounds in his first game back against Deerfield and then had 3 blocks and 7 rebounds against Niles West. Perritt was all-tournament at The Battle at the Ridge where he hit double figures in scoring each game, averaging 14.5 points during the Northridge Prep-hosted event.

Warren update: The Blue Devils, who are 5-2 overall and 1-1 in North Suburban action, head to the 63rd Proviso West Holiday invitational in Hillside where they open up against Walther Christian. Whitney Young or Michele Clark await in Game 2. Warren is the defending champion.

Sophomore standout Jaxson Davis (19.3 points, 5.9 assists) and Zach Ausburn (9.6 points, 6.6 rebounds) lead the way for Warren, while Braylon Walker has been outstanding on the ballhandling front with 31 assists against 4 turnovers.

Davis, Ausburn and Walker were all-tournament selections at Grant Thanksgiving. Last year, Davis was the first freshman to be named the MVP at Proviso West.

Wauconda update: Another Wheeling Hardwood Classic Christmas entrant is Wauconda (1-6, 0-3 NLCC), which plays St. Viator on Monday in its tournament opener.

“I think we can be competitive there,” Wauconda coach Ty Weidner said. “Again, we have to put 4 quarters together and limit our turnovers and our opponents’ second-chance points. That has absolutely killed us.”

Weidner said Tony Salemi has been the team’s most consistent offensive player, averaging around 11 points per game. Alex Ortega is back after missing the first 3 games of the season. “Alex is looking more and more comfortable as each game passes,” Weidner said.