Hoveydai helps Vernon Hills pull away
Vernon Hills senior Riaz Hoveydai was aware he had to change it up in the second half of Tuesday's game against Carmel in the Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic Tournament.
"I settled for a lot of shots in the first half," he said. "I knew I need to attack and play more of a point guard role."
Which is exactly what he did in the third quarter.
Hoveydai scored or assisted on Vernon Hills' first six baskets in the second half to help the Cougars to a 45-24 victory.
Carmel cut its deficit to 21-17 on a 3-pointer by junior Jon Huisel at the 3:32 mark. From there, the Cougars ripped off 16 consecutive points. Vernon Hills (6-5) began pushing the tempo, preventing Carmel (4-9) from setting up its effective zone defense.
"We started beating them down the court," said Hoveydai, who scored 11 points and had 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
All 12 of Vernon Hills junior Chris Morgan's points came on 3-pointers.
"(Ruiz) would drive the lane and I just faded to the corner for open shots," Morgan said.
Carmel was playing without senior point guard Tim Sachs, who sustained an injury in Monday's 74-54 loss to Prospect.
"We missed (Sachs)," Carmel coach John Ryan said. "It took us out of our flow on offense, and we weren't deep enough to overcome it."
When the two teams played Dec. 2, Carmel overcame a 7-point halftime deficit and won 50-45.
"Vernon Hills is a much-improved team from the first time w e played them," Ryan said.
Carmel junior Patrick Cox, who scored a career-high 28 points against Prospect, was held to 2 points.
"They like to post their guards and we did a much better job of focusing on swarming to the basketball," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said.
Huisel perhaps Carmel's most active player, was rewarded for his effort. He had 10 points and was credited with a game-high 13 rebounds.
For the Cougars, senior Brian Smith had 8 points, and junior Tyler Zuniga (7 points) played well off the bench.
"As long as we continue to get better we're in a good spot," McCarty said.