Knights ace test at Johnsburg
Grayslake North brought home championship basketball hardware from the Richmond Burton/Johnsburg Thanksgiving tournament Saturday night, in the form of a first-place trophy after a thrilling 67-66 overtime victory over the Johnsburg Skyhawks.
Grant Henricksen's 10-foot floater in the lane with 9.8 seconds left in overtime gave the Knights a 67-65 lead. After a Johnsburg timeout, Skyhawks forward Mike Dixon (game-high 37 points) drove the length of the floor and was fouled with less than a second left.
After another timeout, Dixon stepped to the line and calmly drained the first free throw. His second free throw bounced off the rim and set off a well-deserved Grayslake North celebration of their first varsity basketball tournament title.
Henricksen (team-high 16 points), who was named the tournament's most valuable player, described his title-clinching moment.
"It was a play called for me, isolation, I looked for it, drove, and hit it," said Henricksen.
"I don't know if I'm a predictor, said Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh, "but I told them before the game that I felt like 32 minutes may not be enough tonight, and during the timeout, I had a feeling that he (Dixon) was going to miss the second free throw."
Grayslake North (4-0) had to contend with a red-hot Dixon, who averaged about 27 points in the tournament. Grunloh praised the defensive effort of guard Ross Sauer.
"Ross Sauer basically guarded him the last three quarters and he made him earn every single one of his points," Grunloh said. "Still, you have to tip your cap to Dixon as he played one heck of a game."
The Knights received 12 points from center Michael Verwijst and 11 from Rollin Idlas. Matt Pucher (6 points) was named to the all-tournament team.
Johnsburg (3-1) was without flu-ridden center C.J. Fiedorowicz for the second straight game. Mike Dombrowski tallied 9 points and Derek Talbot added 7, including a critical 3-point play in overtime, for the Skyhawks.
As for the trophy's new home, coach Grunloh says that will require some housekeeping.
"We'll have to dust some things off and find a spot for it."