Just how good is N. Chicago?

Looks like North Chicago will host the North Suburban Conference title game, which is less than three weeks away.

At 10-0 in Prairie Division play, the Warhawks would have to experience a colossal breakdown over the next week to lose even a teensy bit of their grasp on the division title. Their remaining two Prairie games are against Antioch and Wauconda, teams they beat handily already this season.

"They'll be there (in the title game)," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. "I'm looking forward to the game. I think North Chicago is so good that if you threw them in the Lake Division, they'd be right up there."

Behind Keith Ford and an offense that was once averaging 95 points per game in division play, this North Chicago team will likely rank "up there" in the history books as well.

Where, though, is the question.

"My freshman coach and I were just talking about that," McCarty said. "Is this North Chicago team the best ever in the Prairie Division? Back in 2000-01, we had a team that won 20 games and that was back when Zion-Benton was still in the Prairie and had Andre White. There have been some good teams in the Prairie. Zion-Benton won the Prairie title like three straight times.

"North Chicago is probably comparable to teams like that, but the thing is, they're deeper. They can throw a bunch of guys at you. I'm impressed with how many shooters they have. You don't just have to worry about all the penetrating they can do. You also have to watch for their shooters because they can knock down shot after shot with ease.

"So maybe they are (better). I know they put up 84 points against us and 12 of their guys scored. Sometimes, I think their JV team could win the Prairie."

North Chicago hasn't been tough in just the Prairie though.

The Warhawks beat Stevenson at Christmas and gave Loyola everything it could handle in the championship game of the Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic.

North Chicago also defeated solid teams like St. Patrick and Fenwick this season, which gave the Prairie Division some much-welcomed attention.

"North Chicago has definitely given some credibility to the Prairie," Wauconda coach Rich Wolf said.

"North Chicago has broken into some Top 25 polls and I'm seeing them mentioned in some of the (prep) basketball magazines I get," said Lakes coach Brian Phelan, whose team sits in second place in the Prairie with a 7-2 record (16-6 overall). There's definitely a buzz around that team and that's good for the Prairie."

The other side: The North Suburban Lake Division isn't nearly as clear-cut as the Prairie.

Heading into the weekend, Stevenson holds a slight edge over Zion-Benton. Stevenson is 7-2 in division play while the Zee-Bees are 6-2.

Lake Forest also has 6 wins (6-3).

"I still think Zion-Benton is the class of the (Lake)," Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil said. "The league has been really tough top to bottom this year and you clearly can't count out Stevenson. But I just think that in terms of talent, no one really comes close to (Zion-Benton). They had their little lull recently where they lost some games. I figure they'll be pretty tough to beat the rest of the way."

The winner of the Lake will play the NSC title game at North Chicago because it's the Prairie Division's turn to host the game.

Last year, Warren defeated Lakes for the title.

Warren is just 4-6 in division play this season.

Home sick: Home, sweet home?

Hardly.

Not for Libertyville, anyway.

The Wildcats are 1-6 at home this season, and have done everything they can think of to try to change their luck.

"We're terrific on the road," said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil, whose team is 8-10 overall. "If we could wear our orange (road) jerseys at home, we would. But that's not allowed.

"We've even tried sitting on the opponents' bench."

In a home game against Stevenson recently, the Wildcats flip-flopped and sat on the bench that is usually designated for the visiting team. That didn't work.

Stevenson won by 16 points.

"I had gotten that idea from another team I coached," Bogumil said. "We moved to the visiting bench, won the game and never moved back to the home bench. But this time, it didn't work."

The Wildcats are perplexed.

Usually, playing at home is supposed to be an advantage. Usually, playing at home is supposed to jumpstart at team.

With Libertyville, it seems to be the opposite.

"It's kind of weird because when we're in the locker room on the road, I can just see this look in the guys' eyes," Bogumil said. "They have that jump in their step. When we're at home, I just don't see it."

Bogumil says that Libertyville's smaller than usual crowds this season could have something to do with his team's lack of energy at home.

"For whatever reason, we haven't gotten the fan support that we usually do," Bogumil said. "You look over (at the fan section) and there aren't a ton of fans. There's just not that buzz, so we're trying to figure out some things we can do to bring more people to the games."

Scheduling also hasn't been friendly to the Wildcats.

Friday night games typically get the biggest draw in boys basketball and they've had only two at home this season. And one was during exams when attendance is down anyway.

"The one true Friday night home game we had was against Lake Zurich, and we won that game," Bogumil said. "The kids are looking for something to respond to. When we played at Mundelein this season, it was 'an us against the world kind of thing.' There were so many home fans there. Same thing against Warren."

Incidentally, Libertyville won both of those road games.

The Wildcats will be looking for their second home victory tonight against Warren. Then, they have just two home games left _ Feb. 9 against Glenbrook North and Feb. 16 against South Elgin.

"We beat (Warren) at their place so we'll have our work cut out for us this time," Bogumil said. "We're going to have to play like we did last time. We were focused and efficient in our offensive set and we limited (Warren star guard) Brandon Paul until the last minutes of the game."

Riaz's ratio:ŒIn just his first year at point guard, Vernon Hills junior Riaz Hoveydai has been up sometimes and down sometimes.

His numbers have been up and down, too. But that's been a good thing.

As the season has progressed, Hoveydai has scored more and gotten more assists, but his turnovers have gone down.

"Against Antioch the other day, we had only 10 turnovers and a lot of that was because of how well (Hoveydai) handled the ball," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. "He had 13 points and was 7-of-8 at the free throw line but the best part was that he had a 5-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio.

"Turnovers have been an issue, but he's been getting better because he's been getting confidence with every game he plays."

Milestone wins: With its 10th win recently, Vernon Hills (10-11) reached the double-digit victory mark for the first time in coach Matt McCarty's tenure.

"That was a big achievement for us," McCarty said. "But the kids aren't satisfied. They want to do more, like get second place in the (NSC) Prairie and do well in the (state) tournament."

Meanwhile, Wauconda also got its tenth win recently, which means the Bulldogs will finish with double-digit wins for the fourth consecutive year.

Three years ago, Wauconda had one of its best seasons in school history by finishing with 18 victories.

"If you look at our history, it doesn't happen often that we finish with double-digit wins," Wauconda coach Rich Wolf said. "And to be able to do that four years in a row is really something. It's a big accomplishment for us."

Unmasked man: After several weeks of wearing a plastic facemask to protect his broken nose, Wauconda center Eric Grozavescu has gotten clearance to go without from now on.

Which is good news...mostly.

"I think he's still a little conscious about it and worried that he's going to get hit because I've noticed he can be tentative at times," Wauconda coach Rich Wolf said. "It's still tender and he did get hit when we played Antioch and he felt a little dizzy.

"But I think he's ready to be done with it. It's not easy wearing that mask. It was really hard for him to see. He was really struggling with it. We're hoping that as his nose continues to heal and get stronger that he'll be more confident and get back to being aggressive like he usually is."

Grozavescu leads the Bulldogs in scoring with about 13 points per game.

Late heroics: The fourth quarter has been Bryce Larman's time lately.

Over the last two weeks, the Wauconda junior forward came up big late against Grant and then against Antioch.

"Bryce hit 3 three-pointers against Grant in the fourth to put us in a position to go into overtime," Wauconda coach Rich Wolf said. "Then he hit some big threes late to help us go ahead against Antioch.

"He's come up big for us when it really matters."

Late heroics II: Lakes has won its last three games by pulling in front in the final minutes, and often seconds.

The Eagles have overcome late deficits to beat Grant, Round Lake and Mundelein.

"We're putting it together when it matters most," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said. "Our kids are just winners. When it gets to the end, everyone just steps up and knows how to finish games."

Phelan is hoping his team can figure out how to reach the magical 20-win plateau. It's a possibility for the Eagles, who have never won 20 games in a season in the program's three years of existence.

"At this point, it would be hard for us (to catch North Chicago and win the North Suburban Prairie Division)," said Phelan, whose team is 16-6 and sitting in second place in the Prairie with a 7-2 record with three games to play. North Chicago is 10-0 with two games to play. "So getting a 20-win season is really providing some motivation for us. There will be no letdown for us (about the inevitability of the Prairie) because we have that to look to."

Horsin' around: Call Lakes senior Dan Kalb Mr. Versatile.

The 6-foot-3 senior began the season playing in the post for the Eagles. But injuries to teammates sent him to the perimeter to fill a spot.

"He's doing well for us out there," Lakes coach Brian Phelan said. "He ran track and cross-country so he's quick and can run well. And he's really committed to working on his shot."

Phelan says that Kalb plays horse every day after practice with the coaches and is finally getting some victories under his belt.

"At first, Dan couldn't win those games," Phelan said. "But he kept playing and it's paid off in games."

Kalb is averaging about 9 points and 3.5 steals per game.

Say yes: Lakes forward Kevin Guirand, who is just 50 points away from joining the 1,000-point club, recently made a verbal commitment to Division II Ferris State for football.