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Mundelein finding ways to enjoy the struggle

Staying upbeat during a 2-25 season isn't easy.

So Mundelein coach Corey Knigge has gone out of his way to make sure his players are having some fun off the court.

"We've had two rough seasons in a row," said Knigge, referring to last year's 2-28 campaign and the 0-11 mark in North Suburban Conference play this is part of this year's two-win season. "We want the kids, especially our seniors, to have some good memories of this season."

On Wednesday, Knigge took his team down to Loyola University to a men's game against Northern Iowa, which features former Mundelein standout Robert Knar. Last week, the Mustangs made their first trip to Loyola, to watch another former Mundelein star, Sean O'Brien, a sophomore at Southern Illinois.

"Our seniors really enjoyed that because they came up through the program with guys like Robert and Sean. They remember those guys.

"For our younger guys, I wanted them to see what is possible for them if they work hard. Robert and Sean are Mundelein kids just like them who made it because they worked hard."

Knigge says that despite the frustration of a losing season, he's seen good work ethic and positive attitudes out of his players all season.

"I just love these kids," Knigge said. "It would be easy for them to throw in the towel and tank it. But as frustrated as everyone is, everyone is still working and trying to stay upbeat.

"We're trying to teach them that you don't deserve results, that you have to work for them and we're trying to give them experiences that go beyond basketball, and lessons that they can take with them."

Managing just fine:

There are other activities that the Mustangs have done together to create positive memories during an otherwise tough season.

One of their favorites was the opportunity to cheer on one of their own.

Senior Jackson Kasimis has been the manager of the Mundelein boys basketball team for the last two years, and he's big into sled hockey, a sport for disabled athletes who use sleds with blades to move around on the ice.

Kasimis played in a sled hockey game at Lake Forest College two weeks ago and players from the varsity basketball team went to cheer him on, just as he has cheered them on for years.

Years ago, Kasimis was an active kid, playing sports just like many of the players on the basketball team. But in third grade his athletic career abruptly changed forever.

He was in gym class at Freemont when he experienced a brain bleed that led to a stroke. Now, Kasimis has limited use on his left side and some developmental issues.

"Jackson is one of the greatest kids in the world," Mundelein coach Corey Knigge said. "It was great for our kids to go watch him play sled hockey. Some of our kids were with Jackson in gym class the day (the brain bleed) happened. They've known him for so long, and I think they liked being able to support him."

Tick tock:

Time is ticking on this basketball season and Round Lake coach Jeremy Fisher says that a sense of urgency might be registering with his seniors.

"They're understanding that they don't have a lot of time left and that they better start taking advantage of the time they do have," Fisher said of Austin Soto, Chris Wright, Vinnie Milianti and Cesar Rogers. "We're rebounding harder, we're taking care of the ball better. We're just playing better, our best basketball of the season."

Rogers has taken the lead on stepping up his production.

He transferred to Round Lake last summer from Thornridge, where he had never played organized basketball.

His learning curve has been sharp this season.

"For a guy who never played organized basketball to become a starter and to really improve a lot has been really impressive," Fisher said. "He's been such a bright spot. He crashes the boards for us and is our leading rebounder (8 rpg), he's averaging 10 to 12 points, it's been great.

"We weren't even sure what we were going to get from Cesar and he's embraced his role on this team and he's gotten better as the season has gone on. I think it's going to be hard for him when this season ends because he's just getting started. We wish we had him another year. I'd love to see what else he could do."

Twice as nice:

Wauconda is sitting on two of its biggest wins in recent memory.

The 14-10 Bulldogs beat Grayslake North last week and followed that with a win over Lakes. Grayslake North is fighting for the division title in the Fox Valley Conference Fox and Lakes has typically been one of the stronger teams in the North Suburban Prairie.

"Our kids definitely came together and played well against two very good teams," Wauconda coach Scott Luetschwager said. "It was nice for them to know that they can compete with and beat teams at that level. We matched both Grayslake North and Lakes physically and we were mentally in the moment."

Wauconda's win at Lakes was its first ever at Lakes, and just the second win overall against Lakes.

Senior forward Ricky Sidlowski has been a rock during this important stretch. He's averaging nearly 11 points and 6 rebounds per game.

"And he's been really important for us defensively," Luetschwager said of Sidlowski. "He's the backbone of what we do defensively. He blocks a lot of shots, he changes a lot of shots. He's played really well for us."

Masked man, 2:

There's another masked man at Wauconda.

Shortly after guard Parker Fink ditched the face mask he wore recently to protect an injured nose, Paul Redman picked it up. He needed it, too.

"I'm pretty sure it's the same one," Wauconda coach Scott Luetschwager said of the face mask. "Ricky Sidlowski accidentally elbowed Paul in the nose (on Tuesday) at practice, and now Paul has to wear the mask.

"Paul was joking around and told Parker, 'Let's see who wears it best.'"

Luetschwager points out that he's never seen anyone in his program wear a face mask, until this season.

"It's weird, we've never had anyone need to wear one, never had a broken nose before, and now we've had two in one season," Luetschwager said.

Small victories:

There are positives at Grant that might be tough for most people to see, but are indeed there.

The Bulldogs are laboring through a season that currently includes just three wins.

"People on the outside might not see it, but we are headed in a good direction," Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said. "We've done much better in the second half. We went 0-6 through the first half (of North Suburban Conference Prairie Division play) and right now, we're 2-3. We lost to Antioch by four the first time and beat them by two the second time. We lost to Round Lake by four the first time and beat them by 18 the second time.

"We lost to Wauconda by 30 the first time, but lost by only 10 the second time and we lost to North Chicago by 30 the first time and only 5 the second time.

"We still aren't putting together a full game, but we are playing much better overall."

Grant's young sophomore starters are also better now than earlier in the season.

Point guard Logan Lewis, guard Ben Kusiak and forward Andy Kaye were thrown to the wolves this season as inexperienced sophomores. All three are starters, and perhaps weren't fully ready for that role early on.

"From a physical standpoint, none of them were really ready at the beginning," Bosworth said. "But they've all adjusted. They've all gotten tougher and stronger and they're using their bodies well and they're not making some of the same mistakes now that they did early on."

More optimism:

Besides some strides that the Grant varsity is making, there are other positive signs within the program that indicate that more wins are coming in the future.

Even with three sophomores pulled up playing varsity, the sophomore team has gone 11-0 in the North Suburban Prairie Division and clinched the title outright last week. The sophomore Bulldogs also just beat Barrington by 20 points.

Meanwhile, the freshman team is in position to share the Prairie Division title with Vernon Hills provided it defeats Vernon Hills today.

And the eighth grade boys feeder team for Grant has been one of the most dominant teams in Lake County for years.

"We have a lot to be excited about with some of our younger players coming up," Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said. "I think we've got a really bright future."

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