Patiently, Round Lake picks up first Prairie victory

Keeping in control and showing patience helped lead Round Lake to its second straight victory.

Karnell Wright figured into the outcome by scoring 11 of his game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter for the Panthers as Round Lake ran past visiting Antioch 47-35 in a North Suburban Prairie Division game in Round Lake on Saturday night.

The Panthers picked up their first divisional victory and improved to 2-7 overall while the Sequoits dropped to 1-8, 0-4.

Midway through the final quarter, Round Lake saw its double-digit lead slip to 8 points.

That’s when the Panthers’ Wright took over with his steals, scoring 6 straight points in 35 seconds. Round Lake went on a 10-2 run and led 42-26 with 1:42 remaining.

“All we needed to do was slow down and relax,” Wright said. “We were rarely scoring and our buckets were not going down like the first half. We just needed to slow down.”

The Panthers started out slowly as several fouls slowed their progress in the opening minutes. But then Round Lake settled down and earned a 9-6 lead after the first quarter.

The Panthers outscored the Sequoits 13-2 in the second quarter as Antioch had problems hitting shots. Again, Round Lake let its patience take over in building the lead to 22-8 at halftime.

“I think our guys learned a bit with the bunch of fouls early,” Round Lake coach Jim Roberts said. “Our group is excitable, athletic and wants to play. We’re still learning how to defend on the varsity level.

“Our patience was much better in this game. I thought we were in control the entire game. Sometimes we do get frantic, because we’re inexperienced and get out of control.”

The Panthers held a 30-17 lead entering the final quarter. Antioch’s Tyler Innis scored 7 of his team-high 11 points in the fourth quarter. He had a couple of steals that led to baskets and a 7-2 run, which brought back the Sequoits down 32-24 with 4:07 left.

“It was one of those games where I could tell it wasn’t the team I saw that played last night,” said Antioch coach Jim White, whose team lost a close one to visiting Grant, 52-47 on Friday night. “We waited too long to find a sense of urgency. We just looked tired and lazy out there.

“We did win the second half, but you can’t expect to win by playing 16 minutes. You have to play a full 32 minutes.”

The Panthers’ Mateusz Lopez added 9 points. Round Lake’s Zack Pick had 7 points and 8 rebounds, and Mark Jennings chipped in with 7.