Grayslake Central defeats Lakes

January wasn't a good month for Grayslake Central's boys basketball team as the Rams lost four straight games an saw some games canceled by weather.

The Rams wanted to change things in a hurry, so with a new month starting they decided to turn things around in a hurry.

Grayslake Central found plenty of balance and the ability to play good team basketball with a 64-53 victory over visiting Lakes in a Northern Lake County Conference game on Friday night.

The Rams (8-11, 3-3) had three of their five starters in double-figures. Grant Hardy led the way with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Antonio Crews contributed with 11 points and Coby Moe chipped in with 10. Daniel Guckenberger scored 9 and Ethan Boelens 8.

"Let's do this as this is the first of 10 games this month," Grayslake Central coach Kosta Kougias said. "We had a hard-nosed effort that these kids put in and it was something we talked about in timeouts, then again at halftime. Lakes will just not quit. They come at you, they play hard, they get after the ball, they are on the floor, they are scrappy. I mentioned if you don't scrap with them, then we're in for a long night. In that second half, we took their best, they kept coming and we kept coming too."

Grayslake Central led 25-21 at the break, but the Rams went on a 10-3 run taking a 35-24 advantage after Guckenberger dropped in a 3-pointer with 3:50 left in the third quarter.

Lakes (4-15, 2-4) tried to chip away and the Eagles cut the lead down to 6, trailing 39-33 with 58 seconds left on Brad Cherry's layup. Cherry had a game-high 25 points.

But the Rams held their lead, 44-36 heading into the final quarter.

Hardy hit a short jump shot which extended the Grayslake Central lead out to 51-40 with 4:52 left.

"Whatever I can do to help the team win," Hardy said. "Whether I rebound or I can make a shot."

The Eagles made a late push and cut the Rams' lead down to 6 on Cherry's 3-point play that made the score 53-47 with 3:38 left.

But Grayslake Central held its own, making free throws down the stretch for the double-digit victory.

Leighsean Triplett also added 18 points for the Eagles.

"We kept fighting, but it took a while to get it going offensively in that third quarter," Lakes coach Chris Snyder said.

"They did stretch it out a little bit. In the fourth, we've seen that this year where it gets away from us. They were hitting some shots late. We were still fighting and that's what we like about them."