Fast start, winning finish for Mundelein

It was a fantastic first quarter to open the 2010-11 boys basketball season for host Mundelein on Monday night against Grayslake Central.

The Mustangs built a commanding 25-8 lead over the Rams after eight minutes, but Grayslake Central slowly chipped away at the lead and closed to within 55-47 with 7:52 to play.

But that was as close as the Rams would get as Mundelein pulled away in the fourth quarter to post a 75-60 victory in the first round of the Mustangs' Thanksgiving tournament.

Senior guard Leavon Head came off the bench and gave the Mustangs some instant offense with 11 of his 16 points in the first quarter. Mundelein (1-0) took a 43-29 lead into halftime.

Then in the second half, the Mustangs turned to 6-foot-8 senior forward Ryan Sawvell, who scored a team-high 21 points, including a big two-handed dunk and 2 free throws to cap a 7-point run for a 62-47 lead with 6:30 to play.

Sawvell hit 11 of 13 free-throw attempts, and he was bolstered offensively by Head (four 3-pointers) and sophomore teammate Robert Knar (16 points) in double figures.

"I thought the first quarter couldn't have gone any better offensively and defensively and we just have to learn to play a complete game and we'll be hard to beat," said Sawvell. "In the second half, they started doing that trap and I was just able to find some open areas and my teammates found me."

After the slow start, the Rams (0-1) were pretty competitive as they outscored Mundelein 21-18 in the second quarter and 16-12 in the third quarter.

Junior guard Jordan Taylor scored 14 of this game-high 26 points in the first half while hitting 15 of 18 free throws overall. Junior teammate Savonte McWilliams added 10 points and C.J. Stempeck chipped in 7 points. Sean O'Brien scored 7 points for the Mustangs.

"If you take away the first quarter we outscored them by 2o, but unfortunately you have to play four quarters," said Rams coach Brian Moe. "Our kids learned in a hurry what high school basketball was all about and hopefully we'll come out and play better tomorrow."

The Mustangs will have a tough challenge today when they face Bartlett in the second round of the tournament.

"We had a real good first quarter and a pretty good first half, but we struggled in the third quarter," said Mustangs coach Dick Knar. "Ryan Sawvell started attacking the basket in the end and he hit his free throws and we were able to get our defensive intensity back and pick it up in the end."