Ebube's ebullient as Mundelein wins

In the end, on a night Lake Forest refused to lose on its home court, Mundelein junior Sean O'Brien figured he had nothing to lose.

Never mind that his basketball team was on the verge of losing a North Suburban Lake Division thriller.

O'Brien would either sink a baseline runner, or he and his teammates would be rescued by Chino Ebube and his spring-loaded legs.

The latter happened, ending a late night.

Ebube's tip-in of O'Brien's missed shot at the buzzer in overtime lifted Mundelein to a 70-69 win Thursday, setting up a first-place showdown for the Mustangs with Warren in Gurnee on Saturday night, while cooling off one of the hottest teams in Lake County.

"I feel so ecstatic," said a wide-smiling Ebube, who came off the bench to contribute 8 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks, before being mobbed by his teammates afterward. "I feel so happy."

Robert Knar scored 34 points, including a career-high-tying eight 3-pointers, for Mundelein (19-4, 6-1), which won in OT for the second straight game.

"The close games are fun, but I'd like to just win a nice little 20-point game," O'Brien said with a laugh. "Can't keep doing these close games."

John Hayes' 23 points paced upset-minded Lake Forest (10-8, 3-4), which was 5-0 in January.

"They're so well-coached," Mustangs coach Dick Knar said of the Scouts. "They execute so well that you can't rest. You can't relax."

Take the fourth quarter.

Mundelein was up 49-38 heading into the quarter after leading by as many as 14 points in the third, but 6-foot-7 freshman Evan Boudreaux (15 points, 12 rebounds) and 6-4 senior Thomas Durrett (13 points) rallied Lake Forest. Each player scored 7 points in the quarter, as the Scouts outscored the Mustangs 20-9 to force overtime.

In the extra session, Hayes' runner in traffic over O'Brien, who moments earlier had swatted back-to-back shots, put Lake Forest up 69-68 with 13 seconds left.

After Mundelein called timeout with 3.3 seconds on the clock, Lake Forest coach Phil LaScala called timeout as both teams came back out on the court. Mundelein then strategized all over again.

The Mustangs inserted Ebube.

"(Assistant coach) Corey (Knigge) actually made the suggestion," Dick Knar said. "He said, 'Do you want to put Chino in for a tip?' We ran a screen for Robert at the top, and he actually came open. But I wanted Sean to get it on the post and turn, because if they foul, we're in the bonus."

O'Brien got the ball off Jordan Wiegold's inbounds pass and, with Boudreaux draped on him, drove baseline. O'Brien's short shot missed, but Ebube as planned was there to clean up.

"I knew Nate (Brune) was going to set a good back screen for Chino, so I knew Chino was going to be at the rim," O'Brien said. "He's the best jumper on the floor. I knew if I put it up there, make or miss, Chino would be there. Either way, we'd have the win."

The ending was reminiscent of last season at Lake Forest, when Ryan Sawvell's putback at the buzzer allowed Mundelein to escape with a one-point victory.

Robert Knar scored 14 points (four 3s) in the final 4:12 of the second quarter, with his step-back 30-footer beating the buzzer and giving the Mustangs a 30-22 lead at halftime. The junior guard scored 17 points in each half.

Cliff Dunigan added 11 points for the Mustangs. O'Brien finished with 5 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Girls basketball

Lakes' girls basketball team played its third game in as many nights Thursday.

Terese McMahon wasn't tired, apparently.

The 5-foot-10 junior poured in a career-high 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, leading the Eagles past host North Chicago 57-46 in North Suburban Prairie Division action.

McMahon shot 20 of 22 from the free-throw line, as Lakes tied its school record with its 11th win.

"We shoot a ton of free throws in practice and have an ongoing competition," Lakes coach Pete Schneider said. "Guess who is leading? Terese, of course. I asked Terese after her 10th free throw if she liked the rims at North Chicago. Silly question. Actually, I think she likes playing North Chicago, as she has 52 points in two games against them this year."

Lakes (11-12, 8-2) needed McMahon's big effort considering the Eagles played without starting point guard Amanda Smith after the junior banged her knee in the first quarter.

"The trainer gave her the OK to play, but we rested her,"said Schneider, whose team has been missing Heather Hurlbut due to a concussion.

"We had so many players step up today."

Freshman Marissa Merges (8 points, 7 rebounds) played her best game of the season, Schneider said. Ashlee Cunningham added 12 points and 8 rebounds. Nicole Mogged and McMahon played all 32 minutes. Schneider added that sophomore Mia Bennett gave the team good minutes with rebounding and defense.

Vernon Hills 52, Wauconda 20: Meri Bennett-Swanson scored 14 points, and Sydney Smith had 12 points and 6 rebounds for the Cougars in the North Suburban Prairie contest.

Vernon Hills (18-3, 9-0) also received 9 points and 3 assists from Lauren Webb and 5 points and 10 rebounds from Alina Lehocky.

Wauconda was led by Diana Enriquez with 7 points.

Antioch 48, Round Lake 45: Melanie Lass (10 points) made her third 3-pointer with two seconds left, as the Sequoits pulled out the North Suburban Prairie contest.

Lindsey Gofron had 6 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals for Antioch (12-11, 8-2).

Round Lake (5-19, 0-10) got 11 points from Kaylee Parlogean and 9 each from Adrianna Pitts, Morgan Evins and Bianca Mahoney.

"We played our best game of the season," Panthers coach Howard Conkling said. "The girls played awfully hard."

Grayslake Central 42, Hampshire 27: Morgan Dahlstrom scored 14 points for the Rams, who improved to 18-4 overall and 8-0 in the Fox Valley Fox Division.