Grayslake N. outpaces Johnsburg

Grayslake North tried unsuccessfully to beat Johnsburg's zone defense with long-range shooting early in Wednesday night's second-round game of the Richmond-Burton/Johnsburg Boys Varsity Basketball Tournament.

So, the Knights came up with different plans of attack. They picked up the pace to get the lead in the second half and then patiently slowed it in the fourth quarter to hold on for a 48-45 victory in Johnsburg.

"We constantly stress in practice that 3-pointers aren't the only way to beat a zone," said North coach Todd Grunloh. "You can tell kids that, but they're going to think, 'Coach, we shot 60 percent from the 3-point line (8-for-13 against Guerin's zone in Tuesday's 61-40 win).' It's a good reality check that there is more to beating zones than beating them from the perimeter."

The first 7 shots the Knights (2-0) took were behind the arc and six were off the mark. They only tried four 3s the rest of the way to set up a shot at Zion-Benton (2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday with a berth in Saturday's title game at stake.

"We didn't have the initial energy and adrenaline to start the game," said 6-foot-5 junior Aidan Einloth, who had a game-high 20 points and 6 rebounds. "Our outside shot wasn't as good today and it took awhile to adjust to that.

"We were expecting to keep doing the same thing as yesterday. Once we started and they weren't falling we didn't know how to change it right away. It took time and we had to adjust to it."

Einloth scored 7 points in 27 seconds in the second quarter to help North take a 16-11 lead but Johnsburg (1-1) went to halftime up 29-24.

Einloth was fouled as he scored off a rebound and the Knights tied it at 31-31 in bizarre fashion. Einloth missed the free throw but a Johnsburg player got the rebound and immediately scored in Grayslake North's basket.

"I haven't seen that in three years of varsity basketball," Einloth said.

"I've seen it at the lower levels," Grunloh said. "I was already looking down the court ... it was a typical at Johnsburg, Johnsburg game the last five years. It's always fun to play here but definitely stressful."

Matt Aikin sliced through the zone for a 38-36 lead and Lucas Buckels' steal and layup made it 40-37 with 32 seconds left in the third.

"The main adjustment was we had to play stronger on the defensive end and get more transition," Einloth said.

The Knights didn't make a fourth-quarter field goal but were 8-for-10 on free throws - with Dom DiProva (11 points) going 4-for-4 - as they tried to pull the Skyhawks out of their zone.

Johnsburg had a chance to force overtime but North forced Luke Lobermeier (14 points, two 3s) to give up the ball and Mike Shelton's off-balance try from the top of the key missed with three seconds left.

"We found a way to battle back," Grunloh said. "It was a nice team win."

Zion beat Guerin 72-58 in Wednesday's first game. Damarquis Henry (18 points), Kienan Baltimore (17 points) and Tennessee-bound Admiral Schofield (12 points) pushed the Zee-Bees to a 66-39 lead after three quarters.