Mundelein sinks Lakes

Mundelein took home the second-place trophy of its own Thanksgiving Tournament Monday night.

The Mustangs came so close to playing for first place, but a 57-56 loss to eventual champion Barrington Saturday was costly.

Lesson learned.

"We didn't have the intensity Saturday night that we had tonight," said Mustangs coach Rich Knar. "We had a lot of energy out there tonight."

The Mustangs never trailed Lakes in topping their North Suburban Conference divisional counterpart 75-36.

The victory improved Mundelein's record to 4-1 while Lakes dropped to 0-5.

"The defense really got us going tonight," said Mundelein senior forward Ryan Sawvell. "It was a good came to come back on. We just took it to them."

Sawvell led the Mustangs with 15 points and 12 rebounds in just a little more than a half. Robert Knar added 14 points. The bench delivered 40 points.

"Our bench really came through for us," said Robert Knar. "We were on top of our game tonight. We showed that we have to play all 32 minutes with intensity. We know that we can beat a lot of teams."

Knar hit two 3-point baskets to start the contest as Mundelin broke out to a 15-4 first quarter lead.

Lakes closed the gap to 15-11 with 5:52 left in the first half on free throw by Tanner Blain.

Coach Knar called a time out to stress defensive pressure and the Mustangs responded.

Mundelein went on a 18-0 run, forcing 10 turnovers and scoring 14 points off of them to build a 33-11 lead.

Sawvell scored 7 points in the run with the help of 2 nifty assists from Sean O'Brien.

Lakes could not threaten as Mundelein eased away to a 54-19 lead after three quarters.

Justin Bergeon led the Eagles with 11 points and 8 rebounds.

"That run in the second quarter happened because we extened our defense and filled the passing lanes," said coach Knar.

"Now we get ready for Lake Zurich on Friday night," said Robert Knar. "Tomorrow in practice we need to have the same intensity."