Penny, Meyer pace another Lake Zurich victory

Nick Penny scored a game-high 19 points and Nick Meyer had 15 to help host Lake Zurich past Streamwood 49-37 on Thursday in Martin Luther King tournament play.

Penny drained three 3s and made all four of his free throws as the Bears finished 9-for-11 from the foul line.

In a game that was close most of the way, Lake Zurich (13-4) got some separation at the end by producing a 16-point fourth quarter.

Streamwood's top scorer was Jaleel Jenkins, who made three 3s and finished with 13 points. But the Sabres only got 2 free throws in the game.

"Paul Kowalszyn is doing an outstanding job with his guys," said Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher. "They were one of the best-coached and most disciplined teams we've seen. We were just able to create some turnovers and made a run in each half to extend the lead."

Vernon Hills 37, Wauconda 30: Michael Dougherty and Tanner Tolari each scored 12 points, as the host Cougars snapped a three-game losing streak.

"I've seen enough Prairie Division basketball this season to know that sometimes you're going to have to win ugly," coach Matt McCarty said after his Vernon Hills squad improved to 8-9 and 4-2 in the NSC Prairie. "The effort on the defensive end was there. I was really proud of our defensive effort and rebounding. We're going to turn it over and we're going to miss shots, but you can't let that affect your defensive effort.

"And that was happening earlier in the year."

Wauconda (5-9, 2-4) was led by Kyle Drobnik, who scored 6 of his game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to keep the Bulldogs close

Dougherty had all 9 of Vernon Hills' points in the second quarter, helping the Cougars take a 15-11 lead into halftime. It was Tolari's turn to heat up in the third quarter, as he scored 8 of his team's 11 points. He hit two 3-pointers, while Jake Helfand made the first of his two 3s.

"For a Thursday night of finals, we'll take it," McCarty said with a smile. "Everyone's happy."