Boys basketball notes: Antioch’s Gehrke closes in on 1,000 points; Mitrovic coming up big for Grayslake North
Warren and Stevenson headline the list of Lake County-area Class 4A teams as the IHSA boys basketball postseason kicks into gear next week.
Warren is the No. 2 seed in the Class 4A Waukegan sectional and opens play Feb. 26 against No. 7 Grant at the McHenry regional.
Libertyville will host another Lake County-on-Lake County matchup Feb. 26 when the host and No. 4 seed Wildcats face No. 6 Mundelein. No. 9 Round Lake travels to No. 8 Zion-Benton in the Monday play-in game with the winner facing No. 1 sectional seed Waukegan on Feb. 26 at Libertyville.
In the Class 4A Schaumburg sectional, No. 3 seed and regional host Stevenson faces No. 15 Wheeling Feb. 26, while No. 10 sectional seed Lake Zurich faces No. 7 Palatine at the Rolling Meadows regional on Feb. 26.
On the Class 3A side, all local teams flow into the Antioch sectional via 4 regionals. Regional host Grayslake North (No. 10 sectional seed) faces crosstown foe and No. 5 seed/Northern Lake County Conference-champion Grayslake Central (Feb. 26). Wauconda (No. 13 seed) hosts No. 20 Chicago Roosevelt Monday Feb. 24 in a play-in game with the winner facing No. 4 St. Viator on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at North.
At Niles Notre Dame, No. 6 sectional seed and host Notre Dame faces No. 12 Antioch (Feb. 26). Host and No. 7 seed Vernon Hills opens regional play against No. 11 Bensenville Fenton (Feb. 26), while No. 9 seed Carmel faces No. 8 Ridgewood from Norridge at Chicago DePaul Prep (the old Gordon Tech) in Feb. 26 regional action.
Antioch update: The Sequoits, who recently defeated freshly crowned league champion Grayslake Central, have won 6 of their last 7 games and sat at 15-13 overall (11-3 and second NLCC) after a 58-35 win over Round Lake Tuesday.
In the win against Round Lake, Marshall Gehrke scored 14 points and now needs 6 points to hit 1,000 for his varsity career at Antioch. The Sequoits wrap up the regular season at Chicago Sullivan today and then go for a perfect 9-0 home regular season Friday on senior night against Woodstock North.
Also contributing to recent strong Sequoit play are junior Mark Render and Cooper Marabella. Render averages 9 points a game, while Marabella is the team’s best 3-point shooter at a 44% success rate.
“Mark has provided a spark in multiple games with his ability to score, but he is also a vocal leader at the back of our 1-3-1 defense,” Antioch coach Sean Connor said. “Cooper has been incredibly efficient off the bench on offense.”
Antioch has 3 players averaging double figures in scoring with Teddi Wetu (14 points), Gehrke (10) and Jason Lee (10). Lee, by the way, averages a double-double with his 10-point and 10-rebound-per-game averages.
Grant update: Brandon Wolkowitz and Cameron Houghton are two names that might not register big numbers in the scorebook, but their contributions to the Bulldogs this season most certainly are important, coach Wayne Bosworth emphasized.
“Brandon is our best post defender and is constantly undersized in every matchup we have faced this season,” he said. “He’s physical inside and does a nice job keeping bigs away from the basket while also being our vocal leader on defense. Cameron has played the sixth-man role for us all season and constantly comes into the game and provides a spark. He’s an all-around player who can defend, stretch the defense and hit the 3. He always will do whatever it takes to help the team win.”
Damarrion Smith (4.8 rebounds) and Braylon Gray (4.7 rebounds) both average 13 points, while Charles Schlicht averages 12 points and nearly 5 rebounds for Grant (16-11, 9-5 and third NLCC), which upended Grayslake North 61-54 Tuesday to drop the curtain on its league season.
Grayslake Central update: The Rams’ 41-30 win over Lakes Tuesday locked up the Northern Lake County Conference title at 12-2 and pushed them to 21-9 overall. Central put itself in a position for an outright conference clinch with key recent late-season wins against Grant and Wauconda.
Chris Jaimes leads the Rams in scoring and rebounds (16 points and 7 rebounds), while Eric Brum is tops in steals and assists (almost 5 assists per game).
Coach Brian Centella took time to reflect on this year’s group of seniors. “We have a special group of seniors,” he explained. “Chris Jaimes, Eric Brum, Aayan Siddiqui and Mitch Ross are difference-makers in the games for us, and we have talked about them, but Marcus Hueser, Devin White and Max OGorden are absolute glue guys for us. They work their tails off every day and make everyone around them better. They are team-first players and are all about winning and that deserves to be recognized.”
Grayslake North update: The Knights scored a solid home NLCC win against North Chicago recently. “North Chicago is an improving team that beat us the previous time we played them,” North coach Josh Feinzimer said. “It was a key win because it was a character win for us requiring a total team effort.”
In that North Chicago win, starting point guard and scoring leader Jayden Hunt was hobbled by an ankle injury, while second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Uros Mitrovic was out with the flu, Feinzimer noted. And to boot, starting forward and best defender Chris Von Briesen was playing with a bad rib injury.
“In the face of all this adversity, we rallied together and earned a victory,” Feinzimer said.
Brady Ballentine led North with a career-high 20 points, while Feinzimer liked how Tyler Morgan, Jared Van Donselaar and Maurice Jordan stepped up as well for the Knights (16-14, 8-6).
Speaking of Mitrovic (North’s leading conference scorer at 15 points per game), he’s close to going over the 1,000-point mark for his career and setting the school’s all-time 3-pointers made mark for a career. He also averages 5.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals. He’s scored 20 or more points in conference tilts 4 times this season.
“There aren’t too many other players in the conference playing as well as Uros is on the offensive end,” Feinzimer said. “He is accomplishing all these things while still finishing up his junior year. There aren’t too many other players in the area having as good of a career and season as Uros is having.”
Ballentine, a senior, is third on the team in scoring, while classmate Morgan is second on the team in rebounding (4.5 per game) and hit for a career-high 12 points in a recent league win at Round Lake. “Brady and Tyler have shown steady statistical improvements this season as well as being strong leaders in the locker room,” Feinzimer said.
Lakes update: Lakes’ 7-20 overall mark (4-10 Northern Lake County) is not the headline story for coach Chris Snyder.
“Despite this (the record), the guys have been working hard every day and bringing a great attitude,” he said. “They come ready to work and are a great example of sticking with things and staying dedicated even when things don’t go your way. This team has been a pleasure to coach. They are coachable and bring consistent effort and energy. I am looking forward to making one last push with them as we enter the postseason.”
Against Grant in a recent NLCC contest, 3 sophomores led the Eagles in scoring: Dorian Pullen had 17 points, while Ben Newcomb and Carter Martin each had 11. “Our young guys continue to make strides,” Snyder said.
The coach also is high on the progress of Dylan McCann. “Dylan also is showing great improvements,” Snyder noted.
And Snyder had high praise for Brandon Stanton and James Moormann. “Brandon and James have been tremendous teammates and deserve recognition,” he said. “They have fully embraced their roles this year and do whatever is asked of them. They do this even though they aren’t seeing much playing time. They have never shown a bad attitude and are a great example of what it means to do what is best for the team and to be consistent. They both take great pride in our scout team and make sure they are giving the best look possible for our starters.”
Lake Zurich update: Bears coach Terry Coughlin calls Connor Strauss (11 points, 5 rebounds per game) “the ultimate team and glue guy,” he said.
“Connor’s stats are solid, but not eye-popping. Every game he’s asked to guard the other team’s best player and consistently takes that player either out of the game or greatly reduces their effectiveness. He’s our leading scorer without much offense being run through him directly,” Coughlin said.
Kain Kretschmar (11 points, 4 rebounds) and Adrian Riep (9 points, 5 rebounds) also lead the way for Lake Zurich (13-16, 5-8 and fifth North Suburban).
Mundelein update: The Mustangs have been without 3 starters and started the week without a win since Jan. 31 against Libertyville. “The hill is steep right now,” Mundelein coach Matt Badgley said, “but this group has learned that playing together as one unit is the only way to have a chance and they have managed to keep doing that.”
Evan Salvador continues to be a bright spot for the Mustangs (9-20, 3-8 and seventh North Suburban).
Round Lake update: Panthers coach Jack Hansa has been thrilled with the leadership of captain Julian Jones this season.
“Julian has been helping the team stick together through these tough times,” he said. “He is a 2-year captain who always has been the glue to our team.”
While Round Lake is 1-25 overall (0-13 NLCC), Hansa said that record does not properly reflect the progress that has been made.
“I would say the team this year has been much more competitive,” he said. “We have been in 85% of our games and have just come up short a lot. I am really proud of the progress our guys have made.”
Sophomore Jaquan Jamrson leads the Panthers in points, assists, rebounds and steals.
Stevenson update: The Patriots, who started the week with a perfect 9-0 record in road games, have been bolstered of late by the play of Donny Williams and Spencer Flynn, coach Will Benson noted.
“Donny has really played well all year, but especially over the last month or so,” he explained.
Williams is third on the team in scoring at 11.7 points, third in assists and second in blocked shots. “Donny plays really solid defense every game,” Benson added.
Flynn has excelled as Stevenson’s sixth man this season. “Spencer has been very consistent coming off the bench,” Benson said. “He can come in and guard a smaller guy or guard a bigger guy because of his strength and toughness. His role has been invaluable to our team, despite not having eye-popping stats.”
Aidan Bardic leads Stevenson in scoring at 13.6 points per game, while Atticus Richmond averages 9.5 rebounds. Bardic also is tops in assists (4.8) and steals (1.9) The Patriots, who broke the 20-win barrier recently, started the week with 11 wins in a 13-game span and recently had an 8-game tear halted by Rockford Guilford on senior night.
Vernon Hills update: The Cougars (16-14) finished third in the Central Suburban North at 6-4 behind league-winner Niles North (10-0) and Highland Park (6-4).
On the awards front, Tomasz Starr was named Vernon Hills’ CSL sportsmanship award recipient. “Tomasz is a high-character young man,” Cougars coach Matt McCarty said. “He is a verbal leader for our team and a player who has high-level communication skills. He is always in a positive mindset and is a player who we thoroughly enjoy coaching.”
Numbers-wise, Anthony Morgan (10.7 points, 5.7 rebounds), Tyler Perritt (10.6 points, 3.6 rebounds), Daniel Odhiambo (8.9 points, 8.2 rebounds), Jeremy Zamost (3.7 points, 3.5 assists) and Brady Larsen (5.6 points, 3.6 rebounds) lead the way for Vernon Hills.
Warren update: Jaxson Davis (19.5 points, 6.2 assists) and Zach Ausburn (9.1 rebounds) lead the way for the Blue Devils, who started the week 20-10 overall and in fourth place in the North Suburban at 8-5.