Boys basketball notes: Round Lake makes major strides; Carmel, Vernon Hills among others playing well
The Round Lake boys basketball team won 1 game last season.
The Panthers have put that win-total in the rear-view mirror and then some by getting off to a hot 4-0 start, which included winning a Thanksgiving round robin at Harvard.
Round Lake was outscoring teams by an average of 68-46 through those first 3 games.
On the individual front, Jaquan Jamerson is averaging 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, while Devin Powell is at 15 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals. DJ Billups is averaging a double-double at 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“Jaquan is giving the team his leadership and displaying his experience from last year,” Panthers coach Jack Hansa said. “When he stays out of foul trouble, he is a force on both sides of the ball. Devin has been giving the team a spark on the offensive end with his scoring and facilitating. DJ has been the team’s best rebounder and rim protector.”
Antioch update: Mark Render was all-tournament at Mundelein where he averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
“Mark has been a strong leader while also carrying the load on offense,” Antioch coach Sean Connor said.
Miles Mirabella is averaging 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, while Connor lauded senior Zach Kavich for being a dynamic competitor and defender for the Sequoits (1-5, 0-1 Northern Lake County to start the week).
Carmel Catholic update: The Corsairs (3-3, 1-0 East Suburban Catholic to start the week) lost to Deerfield in overtime in the title game at Mundelein where senior Ethan Matz (16.5 points per game) was named all-tournament.
Carmel also avenged a tough loss last year and downed rival St. Viator in its ESCC opener.
In addition to Matz, junior Jackson Stavros averages 10.5 points. “Ethan leads the team in every statistical category and is the team leader,” Carmel coach Mike Wasielewski said. “Jackson has emerged as the second-leading scorer and an outside shooting threat.”
Grant update: The Bulldogs started the week 2-2 with wins over Elgin (94-41) and Richmond (66-48) and setbacks to DeKalb (55-49) and Woodstock (74-64).
Grant coach Wayne Bosworth liked the team’s progress in the 18-point win against neighbor Richmond.
“We took a step forward and started to execute a little better,” he said.
Jayden Smith slid into the starting lineup and registered 16 points and 16 rebounds, the team’s best double-double performance since John Kerr in 2017, Bosworth pointed out. “Jayden is really coming on quickly and giving us that post presence we need in this program,” Bosworth said. “His performance against a big Richmond team was impressive.”
Damarrion Smith had 12 points, 8 assists and 4 steals, while Charles Schlicht had 15 points, 6 boards and 3 blocks. Noah McMath had 7 points and 10 rebounds, while Josh Gamboa had 7 deflections and 2 steals to cap a strong team effort.
“Noah is another senior who was injured most of his junior season,” Bosworth said. “He’s a huge guy for us and makes us go. He does so many things that don’t show up in the stat column.”
Grayslake Central update: Cole Halverson was named to the Johnsburg all-tournament team after averaging 16 points and 5 rebounds there. Central (3-3, 1-0 Northern Lake County) went 2-2 at Johnsburg and then opened league play with a 48-30 win at town neighbor Grayslake North. “We had a great team win,” Rams coach Brian Centella said, referencing the North game.
Senior Aidan Bechard also was cited for strong recent play.
“Cole Halverson had a great Thanksgiving tournament,” Centella said. “Aidan has been excellent for us with his all-around game and standout defense.”
Alex Granville had 17 points against North.
Grayslake North update: The Knights (3-2, 0-1 Northern Lake County to start the week) went 2-1 at Thanksgiving with wins over Woodstock North and Prairie Ridge. In the Prairie Ridge game, senior forward Rees Jorden had 14 rebounds. Sophomore point guard Will Foley has already logged a pair of 17-point games.
Sophomore forward Jared Van Donselaar had a career-high 22 points in the Woodstock North win, while senior captain Uros Mitrovic averaged 17 points at Thanksgiving and crossed the 1,000 career-point threshold during a 16-point performance against Woodstock.
Lakes update: Carter Martin (15 points, 43% shooting from 3) was an all-tournament pick at Thanksgiving where the Eagles (3-3, 0-1 Northern Lake County) went 1-2 with a win against Northside Prep and played competitive games against Buffalo Grove and Jacobs.
Ben Newcomb is averaging a team-high 16 points, while Dorian Pullen, coach Chris Snyder noted, has been doing a great job running the point guard spot (5 assists per game).
“Ben and Carter have been very consistent for us early on,” Snyder said. “They have led the scoring charge for us.”
Lakes set the program record for tips/deflections with 24 in the Northside Prep win.
Lake Zurich update: Adam Riep, Kain Kretschmar and Tyler Reed were all-tournament at New Trier-Loyola where the Bears (3-3, 0-1 North Suburban) took second over Thanksgiving.
Coach Terry Coughlin noted Tyler Shively has come off the bench and “and done a great job handling the basketball and learning how to run a team while Evan Peterson is injured,” he said.
Coughlin noted Riep has taken 8 charges in the team’s first 6 games and is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder thus far.
“Team-wise, we are playing very good defense,” he said. “We are holding teams to an extremely low shooting percentage.”
Mundelein update: The Mustangs opened North Suburban play with a 56-55 win over Zion. Mundelein (2-6 overall) also recently dropped a 47-35 game to Highland Park.
Sophomore Brandon Newell earned all-tournament honors at the Mundelein Thanksgiving Classic.
Newell and classmate Reyes Zepeda have been key cogs for new coach Joe Scheuers in the early going.
“Both lead the team in minutes played,” he said. “Reyes is controlling the boards and Brandon is leading the way on offense. Their growth per game is showing. They gain more confidence every day. For 2 guys who played zero varsity minutes last year, you can tell they put in a lot of work in the offseason and preseason.”
Stevenson update: Pats coach Will Benson liked how his squad downed Lake Zurich in its North Suburban opener and came back to record a late-morning victory the next day against Naperville North. “That was a nice 17-hour stretch for us because both those teams are good and well-coached,” he said.
Rocco Pagliocca earned all-tournament honors for Stevenson, which was off to a 4-1 start at the beginning of the week. Benson noted Pagliocca, along with Donny Williams and Aidan Albrecht have played “pretty solid out of the gates,” he said.
“We need to continue to emphasize and execute defensively, sharing the ball and rebounding,” Benson said.
Benson pointed out an odd quirk. The 6-foot Williams has 4 or 5 slam dunks already, while the 6-2 Albrecht has 4 dunks. “Rare for us, but also rare since Donny is 6-0 and Aidan is 6-2,” Benson explained. “Both are really good leapers.”
Vernon Hills update: Another hot Lake County team is Vernon Hills (6-1, 1-0 Central Suburban North), which won the 21st annual Battle at the ‘Ridge tournament with a 4-0 mark.
Point guard Jeremy Zamost and center Daniel Odhiambo were all-tournament picks at Thanksgiving. Odhiambo is leading the Cougars in scoring at 17.2 points (9 points last year). “A nice jump from his junior year,” Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said.
Zamost, a senior, had 10 assists against Thornton Fractional South, which tied a record for the second most in a single game in program history. Through the first 7 games, Vernon Hills held 5 of the 7 foes to under 42 points. “I feel keeping teams in and around 45 points gives your team a good chance of winning,” McCarty said.
McCarty noted senior guard Graham Lis was injured early in the second game of the season. Since his return, he shot 6-for-11 from 3 and had 12 points against Niles West and 13 points against Deerfield Zell. Senior guard Nico Robles came off the bench and went 3-for-3 from 3 against Niles West. “Nick gave us a huge boost,” McCarty said.
Warren Township update: Jaxson Davis was all-tournament at the Fred Van Vleet Classic held at Rockford Auburn.
To start the week, Davis was averaging a robust 25.7 points per game, while Braylon Walker has been critical as well with his play, averaging 16.7 points, 6.3 assists, 6.3 rebounds and shooting 56% from the field. Avonn King is averaging 11.3 points, while Joel Paasch is averaging 10.3 points for the Blue Devils, who started the week 2-1 (loss to Chicago Curie on Dec. 6).
Wauconda update: Bulldogs coach Ty Weidner presented some notable statistics regarding his squad, which was 2-2 to start the week (1-0 in Northern Lake County play). Wauconda went 1-2 at Woodstock, losing to Rockton Hononegah and Woodstock in the final minute of each game.
Weidner likes how Wauconda plays early in the game, but the fourth quarter, he noted, is an area the team is working to improve on. Weidner noted the Bulldogs are a -.2.8 in the fourth quarter (the only negative quarter they are posting), plus it’s the only quarter where they are sub-1.0 in points per possession. He pointed out Wauconda had the lead in the fourth quarter in each of the first four games, “which in encouraging knowing we have played some really competitive games early in the year,” he said.
The Bulldogs also are shooting 43.5% from the foul line in the fourth quarter, “which we will need to improve if we want to be a successful team competing for a conference championship down the road,” Weidner said. “Overall, I am very encouraged with our team vibe and energy.’
Alex Ortega started the week averaging 22.8 points, 4 assists and 1.3 steals, while shooting nearly 43% from 3. “Alex has been playing lights out,” Weidner said. “He has been our most consistent scorer.”
Austin Carlsen also is off to a strong start, averaging 13 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2 assists. “Austin has been playing some really solid basketball,” Weidner said. “He has the ability to not only stretch the floor, but also dominate down low, which is huge.”
Ortega and Carlsen also lead Wauconda in assist-turnover ratio, “which is a stat we chart and put a lot of emphasis on in our program,” Weidner said.