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Grayslake North bears watching

It’s too early in the girls basketball season to issue warnings.

So how about a heads-up to the fans of Grayslake Central: Please watch that team up the street.

That Grayslake North squad is now clearly more than the Kendall Detweiler and Jordyn Bowen show.

The squad that new head coach Nate Flannery inherited is tough inside with the likes of Joanna Guhl and Brittney Thibeaux. The North outside game gets helped from its sophomore class with the likes of Maggie Fish and Emily Dugan.

And there is also new captain in town. Shyanne Ludwick banked in the first 3-pointer of Tuesday night’s game and the unbeaten Knights were off and running. North broke up a close game early and ran away from home-standing Mundelein 58-25 in the second night of the annual Turkey Shootout.

“We have a lot of depth,” Flannery said. “In each of our games, we have gone eight deep. We really get a spark off our bench.”

For the senior Ludwick, who led a balanced Knights attack with 14 points, it’s been a career of changes. Coming into the high school, she was considered an inside threat. After sitting out last year, she has returned as an outside threat. She landed three 3-pointers in this romp.

“We have a great group to work with here,” Ludwick said. “They are all such positive people. Everybody is equal.”

This game didn’t start out like it would be a 30-point blow out. On Natalie Busscher’s outside shot, the Mustangs (0-2) trailed just 9-7 with three minutes to play in the opening quarter.

And then Mundelein began to slow down offensively. In the next 11 minutes, Mundelein scored just six points. That was same amount as Ludwick scored. In fact, that promising guard Dugan scored 7 points before halftime, as the Knights took a 32-13 halftime lead.

“Emily is a yearlong basketball player,” Flannery said. “She started on our sophomore team last year and is a real sparkplug.”

Both Bowen and Detweiler let others do the scoring by halftime. Between the two veterans, there were two points. That changed in the second half.

Detweiler (4 points) added a gorgeous steal and hoop late in the third quarter. In the fourth, Bowen showed off her skills. In a 36-second spurt, the senior scored 7 of her 9 points. That included back-to-back 3-pointers.

“Jordyn is our best defender,” Flannery said. “When she missed practice because of softball, we really missed her.”

There weren’t many great moments for the home-standing Mustangs. Junior guard Lauren Rouse led the way with 6 points. Both Maggie Mahar and Busscher scored 5 points each.

On the other side, there were plenty of smiles.

“This is our year,” Ludwick said. “And with coach Flannery that makes it better.”

Ludwick is considering playing next year at either Loras College or Wisconsin-Whitewater. She even noticed a UW-Whitewater coach in the audience on Tuesday.

Also helping out the Knights on this night were: Dugan (9 points, 6 rebounds), Thibeaux (8 points, 10 rebounds), Guhl (4 points, 11 rebounds) and Fish (6 points, 8 rebounds).

  Grayslake North’s Kendall Detweiler, left, drives on Mundelein’s Madison Davis during the Mundelein High School Turkey Tournament on Tuesday. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Grayslake North’s Shyanne Ludwick, right, drives on Mundelein’s Becca Woit during the Mundelein High School Turkey Tournament on Tuesday. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
  Mundelein’s Lauren Rouse, left, battles for a rebound with Grayslake North’s Joanna Guhl, right, and Jordyn Bowen during the Mundelein High School Turkey Tournament on Tuesday. Steve Lundy/slundy@dailyherald.com
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