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Thomas a welcome addition as Grayslake North tops Lakes

The unmatching high-tops normally would be a giveaway.

And while it's true that junior Jamal Thomas is a transfer, it was strictly a coincidence that his blue basketball shoes clashed with Grayslake North's black-and-Vegas-gold uniforms Monday night.

"I actually have black ones, but they're a little too tight," a smiling Thomas said. "I got to fix the laces. I'll have them (Tuesday)."

High-tops aside, Thomas looked spectacular in helping Grayslake North to a 65-43 win over Lakes at Johnsburg in opening-round action of the Johnsburg/Richmond-Burton tournament. The 5-foot-10 point guard scored 15 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, despite sitting out the final quarter after the Knights built a 28-point lead through three.

Thomas played varsity basketball as a freshman and sophomore at Oxford High in Oxford, Mich., about 45 minutes south of Detroit, before moving last spring.

"He gives us really what we missed last year," Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh said of Thomas. "He gives us that speed component where we can get the ball up and down the court."

Unfortunately for Lakes, the Eagles saw a lot of Thomas flying up and down the court.

"Too bad he couldn't have moved a little further north and got in that Lakes district," Lakes coach Chris Snyder joked of Thomas. "He's a nice player."

Aidan Einloth scored a game-high 18 points, including a pair of dunks, and grabbed 6 rebounds for Grayslake North, which plays host Johnsburg at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Bobby Krebs added 14 points, hitting four 3-pointers.

Lakes received 11 points each from Kyle Rohr and 6-foot-4 junior Jack Christensen, who knocked down three 3-pointers.

"With a team as physical as Lakes, it being the first game of the year and the fact that they're very disciplined offensively, I was thinking this might not be a great matchup for us," Grunloh said. "I knew they were going to test us defensively. But I thought we did a good job of protecting the basket and making them be more of a perimeter team."

A pair of 3s by Krebs, drive by Thomas and bucket by Connor Sinclair (7 points) helped Grayslake North bolt to a 10-0 lead. The Knights were up 14-2 after one quarter and 38-13 by halftime, with Einloth and Thomas scoring 12 and 10 points, respectively.

"It was a really intense game because this is our rival," Thomas said. "So I felt I had to do everything to the best of my ability."

Thomas shot 5 of 9 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the foul line. He played all summer with his new teammates, who embraced him.

"When I first came here, they really welcomed me onto the team," Thomas said. "I fit in real well with the chemistry. They brought me in and let me play the way I play."

Thomas likes to play up-tempo, and that's exactly the style that Grunloh has implemented.

"We want to play as fast as you can," Grunloh said. "I thought we did a good job of really pushing the issue (against Lakes). We're still learning. There are some execution things we need to work on, but overall I was very pleased with the effort."

A Krebs 3-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer extended the Knights' lead to 55-27.

"They're a good-shooting team, and they were knocking them down early," said Snyder, whose Eagles play North Chicago at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Johnsburg. "It's a tough opponent right away. We just got to move on and just learn from it."

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