Vernon HIlls overcomes key loss

Antioch guard William Waschow arrived at Vernon Hills on Saturday to learn that his defensive assignment had changed.

Sequoits coach Jim White had planned to use a combination of Waschow and fellow veteran Joe Gregory to stick Vernon Hills’ high-scoring Darren Hoveydai, whose 24 points against Grant on Friday nearly matched the 29 Antioch mustered against Round Lake the same night.

Hoveydai, however, was home sick.

“I wanted to guard him so it was a little bit of a bummer,” Waschow said respectfully. “I’ll get him next time.”

Waschow’s disappointment didn’t last, and neither did his team’s. Antioch overcame an early 11-4 deficit but couldn’t pull off the upset, as Vernon Hills pulled out the North Suburban Prairie Division matinee 45-41.

Stephen Curry’s game-high 15 points led Vernon Hills (9-6, 4-1), which won for the fourth time in five games.

Waschow had 13 points and 6 rebounds for Antioch (3-13, 0-5). Karl Nettgen added 12 points and 7 boards for the Sequoits.

Hoveydai averages 18.2 points per game.

“He called me at 7 a.m. (Saturday) morning and said he felt really (ill),” Cougars coach Matt McCarty said. “Whether it was the flu or food poisoning, I’m not sure. He doesn’t even miss practice. For him to miss a game, he must have been pretty down in the dumps.”

The Cougars’ spirits were high to start the game. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Nate Rathod, starting in place of Hoveydai, and MJ Crowley had the home team up 11-4 midway through the opening quarter.

“Coach said we had to come out with effort, and we came out with effort,” said 6-3 junior Trenton Fulton, who had 11 points and 9 rebounds. “Someone had to pick up the slack. I thought Stephen (Curry) picked up the leadership role pretty well.”

But pesky Antioch responded, with Waschow’s spinning drive helping the Sequoits pull even (13-13) by quarter’s end.

“We came out ready to play,” White said.

Up 27-22 at halftime thanks to Rathod’s 3 that capped a 9-2 run, Vernon Hills then scored the first 6 points of the third and later went up 38-25. Curry, who attacked the basket with regularity, scored 7 points in the third.

“In the locker room (at halftime), Coach said we could do this without (Hoveydai),” Fulton said. “We took care of it.”

Not that Antioch went quietly.

Nettgen scored the final 5 points of the third, and his free throw with 1:31 left got Antioch within 42-38.

When Fulton grabbed a long rebound and sped the other way for a layup with 12 seconds left, Vernon Hills could finally breathe easy.

“Hard-nosed kids,” Fulton said of the Sequoits. “They really get after it.”

Crowley (5 steals, 2 blocks) and Rathod (3 steals, 5 rebounds) each sank a pair of 3s and scored 8 points. Jarrett Wood grabbed 7 rebounds for the Cougars, while John Foley and Brett Peterson provided strong minutes coming off the bench.

“With Darren being sick, I guess we’re just going to take it,” McCarty said. “Antioch played their tails off. I knew Jim would have those guys ready.”

The four-point loss for Antioch came on the heels of its three-point defeat against Round Lake.

“We’re not really that frustrated,” Waschow said. “We’re staying positive. Compared to last year’s games with Vernon Hills (72-47 and 62-57 losses), we made some major improvements.”

White liked the assertiveness big-body Austin Vogel (6 points, 4 rebounds) showed coming off the bench and the first-year coach, like Waschow, wasn’t hanging his head about his team’s tough weekend.

“We’re competing,” White said. “I like that we’ll see all the teams in our division a second time. That will be a good gauge for us.”