Win leaves sweet taste in Mundelein's mouth
As Lake Zurich boys basketball coach John Zarr slipped a piece of candy between his lips after his team's 70-43 loss to host Mundelein on Saturday night and talked about how it - the loss, not the candy - left a sour taste in his mouth, he uttered a juicy tidbit.
The best team he's seen in the North Suburban Lake Division this season?
"It might be this team right here," Zarr said of the Mustangs. "They're talented."
Mundelein (15-7, 3-4) just might be, but the Mustangs are playing catch-up in a division led by Lake Forest (5-1). Mundelein's divisional losses include a pair in overtime, including one to Lake Forest.
"All I keep telling these guys is, we're going one game at a time," Mustangs coach Dick Knar said. "We worried about Lake Zurich tonight, and Lake Zurich scared the heck out of me because they played really well against Zion (a 50-45 loss on Thursday). They're athletic. They're good. It's just that they're having tough breaks in games.
"I'm not trying to look past anything," Knar added. "I'm like, let's get to .500 (in the division), first."
Mundelein understands it likely can't afford to lose any of its five remaining games in the NSC Lake. The Mustangs visit Lake Forest on Friday.
"All we can do right now is just take care of what's in front of us," guard Ben Brust said.
"Whatever happens with the other teams happens. We can't control that. We need to do what we can control, and that's win the rest of our conference games."
Mundelein's big three of Brust, Ryan Sawvell and Robert Knar all played well against Lake Zurich (1-17, 0-7), which despite its struggles, has been competitive in the division. The Bears have four NSC-Lake losses by single-digit margins.
Knar scored a game-high 21 points, including three 3-pointers and a nifty putback early in the third quarter when the freshman guard twisted his hand and flipped the ball in with nearly his back to the basket.
"I turned around and said, 'That looks like his old man,' " Dick Knar, a former college post player, said with a laugh. "His old man used to get tip-ins like that."
Knar also had 3 steals and 4 rebounds.
"Robert was huge for us," Brust said.
Brust added 18 points, and while the senior shot just 7 of 19 from the floor, he grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 5 assists. That kind of all-around performance has become the norm this season.
"When my shot's not falling, like it wasn't today, I need to do other things to help the team," Brust said. "Tonight it was rebounding and getting other guys involved."
Sawvell also finished in double figures, scoring 13 points in addition to grabbing 7 rebounds.
Knar's 12 points and an offense that committed just 1 turnover helped Mundelein take a 37-25 lead into halftime.
The Mustangs pulled away in the second half.
"I think the thing that hurt us more than anything was our defensive transition," Zarr said.
"We had problems getting back, and we weren't picking up the ball early enough. By the time we picked it up, they were already getting to the basket."
Aaron Lewandowski scored 9 of his team-high 11 points in the first half for Lake Zurich.
Marko Grcic added nine, while Chris Baumann pulled down 11 rebounds.
"We've been going forward up to this game and I think this game we took a step backward," Zarr said. "That's the first time that's happened in a while."