Ford, Lake Forest defense stymie Mundelein
Lake Forest junior Jack Ford proved Friday night that he can stand out in a crowd.
Some in attendance at Lake Forest for the Scouts' North Suburban Lake Division contest against Mundelein would say it was because of the defense Ford played on Mundelein senior Ben Brust. Others, including his admirers and some Scouts fans, were convinced it was because of the shirt.
"The guys gave it to him pretty good about that shirt," Lake Forest coach Phil La Scala said. "He deserved it."
Sporting a bright Pink Polo shirt as he chatted with his friends and teammates after the contest, one thing everyone could agree on was that Ford could wear whatever color he wanted if he played like he did Friday night again.
Despite the fact that he failed to score for the Scouts in the contest, Ford's defense on the Iowa-bound Brust helped lift division-leading Lake Forest to a 60-51 win over the Mustangs.
"My teammates gave me a pretty hard time about it tonight, but hey, the girls like it," Ford said.
Lake Forest maintains the top spot in the Lake division with a 6-1 mark and improved to 11-7 overall. Mundelein fell to 15-8 overall and virtually out of the conference race at 3-5 in league play.
"(Lake Forest) 100 percent dominated us tonight,' said Mundelein coach Dick Knar. "Offensively, defensively, preparation, coaching - they totally and thoroughly dominated us tonight."
Mundelein started the contest about as well as the Mustangs could have expected. The visitors raced out to a 9-2 advantage barely two minutes into the contest and looked to run away early. But, much like its has all year, Lake Forest dug in defensively and turned the contest around.
"It seemed like every time we made a turnover or a bad play, we didn't let it carry over," LaScala said. "After a bad play or turnover we would dig in defensively and come up with a stop or big play."
The big plays for Lake Forest continually came offensively from senior Mitch Hopfinger. The Scouts' top offensive weapon poured in 17 of his game-best 26 points after halftime, but it was his two quick buckets to start a 14-0 run to end the first quarter and start the second that got the Scouts running.
"I think we did a great job of staying poised," Hopfinger said. "When we needed to make a play on defense or get a bucket tonight, we found some holes in their defense and took advantage."
Defensively, Lake Forest was downright awesome at times in the contest. The Scouts limited a Mundelein team that averaged over 70 points per game this year to just 17 points in the first half and just 32 points through three quarters.
"We just tried to get out on the perimeter and limit the touches of their big scorers," said Ford, who along with teammate Carter Bass limited Brust to just 20 total points and 1 field goal in the first two-plus quarters.
Mundelein finally made a small run at the Scouts, cutting the margin to 40-34 with 6:38 left. Much like it had all night, Lake Forest responded and used a 12-5 spurt to close out the Mustangs.
Ryan Sawvell also hit the double figures mark for Mundelein, with 7 of his 13 points coming after halftime.