Lake Zurich snaps St. Charles East's 5-game winning streak

After watching his team's 17-point second-quarter lead dwindle down to a mere basket at 42-40 midway through the fourth quarter, Lake Zurich basketball coach John Zarr could have been excused for starting to get that sinking feeling in his stomach.

After all, the Bears entered Saturday night's nonconference contest against St. Charles East (12-11) with just 2 wins in 22 games and had already suffered 7 losses by 10 points or fewer this season.

But rather than needing an antacid tablet, Zarr was soothed by his team's play down the stretch, as the Bears (3-22) went on a 15-2 run over the next three minutes to seal a 57-45 victory over the Saints in St. Charles.

"That says a lot about our basketball team, especially from where we're coming from," said Zarr. "We've lost a significant number of games and these kids had a chance to fold but at that point we really extended the game, did a good job the last few minutes here and we got the win."

Senior forward Marko Grcic scored 7 of his game-high 19 points during the Bears' final surge, including a 3-pointer and layup that helped extend their lead to 47-40 with 2:58 remaining.

"I didn't think of it as them making a comeback," said Grcic, who added 10 rebounds. "I shot it (the 3-pointer) like I would have any time. And the layup was all (teammate) Mike Boyd. He set me up with a great pass."

Aaron Lewandowski chipped in with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Boyd had 13 points as the aggressive Bears enjoyed a 20-3 edge at the free-throw line.

"We did a good job of getting to the line," said Zarr. "I thought that probably was the biggest key to the basketball game. That's probably where we won the game - that and the quick start."

Lake Zurich jumped out to a 14-4 first-quarter lead and extended it to 21-4 on a Lewandowski jumper with 6:19 left in the second period.

Relying on a 2-3 zone defense, the Bears were able to keep the Saints away from the basket thanks in part to a 38-16 rebounding edge.

"We're not typically a zone team but based on our scouting report it came back this way," said Zarr. "We wanted to put our two 6-7 kids (Chris Baumann and Drake Orser) on their corner 3-point shooters. That was our game plan coming in."

St. Charles East, which had won nine of its last 11 games, including five in a row, trailed 29-18 at halftime before regrouping.

"At halftime, we said, 'guys, you should love them being in the zone because we have the guys who can knock it down,' " said Saints coach Brian Clodi.

Fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from senior guard Colton Kumerow (18 points), the Saints went on an 11-2 run, capped by a 3-point play from Drew Vazquez (13 points) to make it 31-29 midway through the third quarter.

But the Saints, fresh from a 51-48 road win over South Elgin less than 24 hours earlier, were never able to get over the hump against the Bears.

"They played a good zone but we looked like we'd never seen one before," said Clodi. "Our focus was not where it needed to be. We probably took two steps back but again it's one game. If you learn from it, you can take two steps forward."