Dougherty, Vernon Hills zone out Mundelein
Even before the halftime festivities on Monday morning, the players from both Mundelein and Vernon Hills had already made a statement.
Mundelein's promising sophomore Andrew Silva had already pocketed his double-double before the halftime break, with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cougars' sharpshooting senior, Michael Dougherty, had 19 points at the break. As amazing as that sounds, he'd almost matched Mundelein's total for the entire half.
One-game winner Mundelein made a game out of it. The Mustangs pulled within 8 points late in the third quarter. That's when Vernon Hills' 3-point game heated up.
The final day of Lake Zurich's Martin Luther King Classic saw the Cougars (10-11) win twice. In this morning contest, Vernon Hills downed Mundelein 65-38.
“We've played 6,000 times against man-to-man,'' noted Mundelein coach Corey Knigge. “And today, we played against a zone. We were too passive against the zone.”
Dougherty (24 points) knows what's going on in Mundelein. He even knows some of the Mundelein players.
“They are playing with a lot of sophomores,'' Dougherty said. “We've been going through a rough time, but we found it today. Our offense had a lot movement today. I was able to score and not force too much.”
You might think the Cougars didn't do much preparing for the Mustangs, but that's not true.
“They scored 77 points against Zion,'' said Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty. “I was really, really concerned.”
Dougherty scored the first bucket of the day for the Cougars. He had 13 of his 24 points in the second quarter. That's when Silva made his move also.
The 6-foot-6 10th-grader scored all but 2 of his team's points in the second quarter. Injuries have held this player back.
“He's a sophomore but he hasn't played a lot of basketball,'' Knigge said. “But he has some skills.”
Dougherty's 3-pointer made it a 35-20 VH lead, and despite Silva's outing, the Mustangs trailed by 13 points at halftime
Silva wasn't the only player grabbing rebounds on this morning session. Vernon Hills center Eric Weiler didn't join the scoring column. But he checked in with a pair of blocks to go with his 13 rebounds.
“We usually win when Eric gets 10 rebounds,'' Dougherty said.
Silva opened the second-half scoring and he finished with 13 points (and 12 rebounds). He got help from back-to-back scores from Isaiah Woolford.
A hoop from Tommy Marcotte (6 points) pulled the Mustangs within 8 at 38-30.
Aaron Woolford had a strong second half and added 9 points for Mundelein.
Vernon Hills took a 46-30 lead to the fourth quarter. Jacob Helfand (three 3s), Tanner Tolari (two 3s) and Jack O'Connell each finished with 10 points for the Cougars, and Andrew Daguinsin scored 9.
“We played well, and we needed that,'' McCarty said.
• Tolari had 14 points and Dougherty added 11 as Vernon Hills edged Streamwood 47-46 in an afternoon game. Weiler had 9 more rebounds.