Lakes looking better already

Already in its first two games of the season, the Lakes boys basketball team has covered both ends of the spectrum.

On Monday, it was fight and claw back from a 16-point halftime deficit only to lose by 4 points to Uplift.

There was no fighting and clawing back on Tuesday.

Lakes got out to a breezy lead and was in firm control from start to finish in easing to a 68-38 victory over Mundelein in the Mundelein Thanksgiving tournament.

The Eagles (1-1) forced 17 of Mundelein's 22 turnovers in the first half and held Mundelein to 25 percent shooting from the field in building a 17-point lead (32-15) by halftime.

"Coach (Chris Snyder) wanted us to come out and play fast and physical," said Lakes forward Ethan Sage, who powered his way for a game-high 20 points. "We've also never beaten (Mundelein) before, and Coach mentioned that before the game, too.

"The goal was to shut them down with our defense and get into our offense and run our stuff and things worked for us."

Lakes zipped out of the gate to a 10-1 lead, and prevented Mundelein from scoring its first field goal until the 2:22 mark. It was a 3-pointer by Tyler Olson. Olson, one of Mundelein's best shooters, wasn't able to find the basket again.

"We wanted to D-up No. 1 (Olson), who is a really good shooter for them," Sage said.

Sage was one of three players to score in double-figures for Lakes. Guard Ben Haviland finished with 15 points (9-of-12 free throws) and guard Jake Balliu added 11 points on a pair of 3-pointers.

"After playing pretty well last night (against Uplift) and coming up a little short, we wanted to bounce back and get in that win column," Snyder said. "I thought we did what we had to. Our guys played strong defensively. Offense is still coming along, so we just have to emphasize defense and that kind of helped us create that gap in this game. We responded on that end, and the offense will come. Some of these guys are still getting their legs under them, but all-in-all, pretty happy with the effort."

Mundelein's effort was much more sound in the second half. The Mustangs had just 5 turnovers and hit 4 of their 5 3-pointers after the break.

Forward Kevin Marcotte scored 10 of his team-high 11 points in second half and Austin Blackmer scored 6 of his 8 points in the second half as well. Jake Parmley also added 8 points for Mundelein.

"We're running a new offense and we're kind of in the thinking stage right now where they're just overthinking everything," Mundelein coach Corey Knigge said of his players. "It's not that they're not trying. They're trying to run what we want them to run, it's just going to take some time.

"We're also late. (The offense) is a lot of read and react, and we're about a second or two late with everything. It's there, but we hesitate and it's just not there anymore. We're trying, we just need to keep working at it."

Uplift 70, Warren 48: Behind a game-high 33 points from Spencer Foley, Uplift moved to 2-0 with a decisive victory over Warren. Uplift outscored Warren 25-13 in the second quarter to take firm control. Jake Falish and Zach Schultz led Warren with 9 points apiece while Chris Mathieu chipped in with 8 points.

Lake Forest Academy 64, Barrington 57: Down 9 points early in the fourth quarter, Barrington cut its deficit to 3 points with two minutes to play but couldn't finish the job. Lake Forest Academy got 22 points from Austin Clamage and 11 and 10 points from Chris Harris and Ryan Clamage, respectively.

Rapolas Ivanauskas pumped in a game-high 23 points for Barrington. Chris Lester added 11 points and Ben Weber had 10 points.