Vernon Hills makes winning a habit
Moments after a stoppage, an angry Matt McCarty badly needed another one.
Vernon Hills' boys basketball coach had just seen Round Lake whittle his team's lead to ... 20 points.
"At the start of the third quarter, we took a couple of quick shots and gave up a (basket) and then we fell asleep on the baseline out of bounds," McCarty said. "We're trying to build good habits, no matter what the score is."
The final score of Friday night's North Suburban Prairie Division game suggested there was no stopping the home team. Vernon Hills cruised in its home opener, winning 72-34 to improve to 4-1.
Round Lake fell to 1-5, after starting the season with a victory.
"We're struggling a little bit trying to get in the flow," Panthers coach Jeremy Fisher said. "We're having some struggles at the defensive end, as well."
Winning has seemingly become a habit for the Cougars, whose only loss came against the host school in the Northridge Prep "Battle of the Ridge" tournament. The baseline out of boands was their nemesis there, too.
"We were slacking on our baseline out-of-bounds (defense against Round Lake)," Vernon Hills guard Bo Manso said. "We weren't really ready. We can say that one of the reasons we lost (the Northridge Prep game) was because of that. Some of the points came on baseline out of bounds."
Manso scored 19 of his 21 points in the opening half. He shot 5 of 6 with a pair of 3-pointers (12 points) in the first quarter, as Vernon Hills bolted to a 24-11 advantage.
"My teammates were getting me open," said Manso, who hit all three of 3s in the first half. "We were getting a lot of good shots or great shots. That's definitely what Coach strives for."
Vernon Hills guard Robby Nardini poured in a game-high 22 points, sinking three of his four 3-pointers in the first half. Lem Turner had 3 of his 4 blocked shots in the opening quarter.
"Bo took really good shots within the offense and he distributed the ball well, and Lem was super active on the defensive end," said McCarty, whose team was up 43-20 at halftime. "His blocks always start our (fast) break and they bring great energy. When he blocks shots, it's just an added bonus. I haven't coached a lot of that at Vernon Hills. It's nice to have."
Round Lake's Michael Green (team-high 10 points) hit the 3 that made the score 45-25 and made McCarty burn a timeout just 2:16 into the second half.
"Sometimes you just can't let things go," McCarty said.
The good news for Vernon Hills was that it responded with a 13-0 run. Nardini scored 7 straight points, including a step-back 3, during the run. Round Lake headed into the fourth trailing 58-29, before Vernon Hills went on a 11-0 run, which included back-to-back 3-pointers by Jake Helfand.
For a Round Lake team that failed to score 40 points for the fourth time in its last five games, facing a shot-blocker like the 6-foot-5, Ball State-bound volleyball player Turner was not what it needed.
"He's pretty athletic and definitely can cause some problems," Fisher said. "At the beginning of the game, we were all full of energy and then the next thing you knew, we got 3 blocks against us. It brings kids down to earth a little bit."