Boys basketball: Grayslake Central stymies Antioch in battle of NLCC unbeatens

Grayslake Central point guard Eric Brum was hardly looking picture-perfect with a couple of big red scrapes on his neck after Wednesday night’s Northern Lake County Conference boys basketball showdown with Antioch.

But he could laugh about the battle scars that personified the Rams’ 49-39 victory in their fieldhouse. One that was gritty more than pretty in a matchup of two of last year’s defending NLCC tri-champions.

“It was a dogfight,” the 6-foot Brum said. “Our team relies on defense and we’re in most every game because of our defense. I think we have one of the best defenses in Lake County.”

Brum was the tone-setter in the Rams’ (10-4, 4-0) scrappy man-to-man as it led 20-8 at halftime and held Antioch (5-8, 3-1) to 3-for-19 shooting. He didn’t score his 4 points until the final 8.3 seconds on free throws but had 4 assists and 4 rebounds and drew 2 charging fouls.

Seniors Chris Jaimes (16 points, 7 rebounds) and Aayan Siddiqui (11 points) and junior Cole Halverson (10 points) carried the Rams’ offense as they took sole possession of first in the NLCC. Brum also contained standout senior guard Teddi Wetu until he erupted for 16 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter and rallied Antioch within 4 points twice in the final 2:22.

“I told Eric after the game he’s one of the few players I’ve coached who can dominate a game without scoring,” said Central coach Brian Centella. “He didn’t score until late but he was in complete control of the game.”

Especially after Antioch got rolling after halftime to get within 26-19 on Wetu’s steal and layup and had four possessions to get closer. After a turnover, Brum calmly found the 6-6 Jaimes for a layup with a perfect no-look pass to beat the third-quarter buzzer and then hit Carson Woods for a 3 to start the fourth for a 31-19 lead.

“I have to protect the ball and feed our dogs like Chris down low,” Brum said.

Alex Granville’s lob to Jaimes for a dunk made it 35-26 with 5:22 left. Antioch responded and cut its deficit to 37-33 when Marshall Gehrke (9 points) hit Wetu for a 3-pointer at 2:22.

And after Zachary Kavich drew a charge, Wetu hit a free throw to get Antioch within 41-37 with 46.8 seconds left.

“They do a great job of packing the paint but in the second half we got some transition and we were able to get out and run a little more,” said Antioch coach Sean Connor.

“I feel throughout the season we really have good talks at halftime and we get together and play hard and play together in the second half," Wetu said. "It was a sense of urgency and reading their defense better. In the second half I saw the gaps and just crushed it.”

But Grayslake Central, which lost a double-digit lead to Barrington to finish fourth in the Hinkle Holiday Classic, didn't crumble as Jaimes’ reverse layup started an 8-2 closing kick for the victory.

“We just had to have a lot of patience and stay strong with the ball,” Jaimes said. “We had to do our basketball and not worry about what they were running and do what we do on our homecourt.”