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Woodstock zones out Wauconda

Woodstock's zone prevented Wauconda from getting into "the zone" Monday night.

The "shooting zone," that is.

With a 2-3 zone defense that covered a lot of ground with the length of tall players with long arms, Woodstock was able to stymie Wauconda's offense en route to a 55-40 nonconference victory.

Wauconda hit just 1-of-10 shots in the second quarter and 3-of-14 shots in the third quarter as Woodstock (16-5) built up double-digit leads.

For the game, Wauconda (7-13) was 12-of-46 from the field, or 26 percent. It also didn't help that Wauconda had 14 total turnovers.

"They are one of the biggest teams we've played," Wauconda guard Bryan Nee said of Woodstock. "They have big guys and big guards and their zone really messed with us. We couldn't find the driving lanes. And when we did have the open shot, we just didn't knock it down.

"The frustration built towards the end. It was frustrating the longer the game went on."

Nee, one of Wauconda's leading scorers, was held to a single 3-pointer and was just 1-of-10 from the field. Many of his teammates could relate.

Meanwhile, Woodstock was experiencing opposite results, especially from three-point range. Through the first half, the Blue Streaks hit on 5-of-12 three-pointers. That helped to build a 29-18 halftime lead.

"We're a 3-point shooting team," said Woodstock guard Vannis Smith, who nailed 4 three-pointers en route to a game-high 18 points. "Wauconda was playing hard defense, too. But we were able to score inside and out.

"Defensively, we ran the defense we run every game. It wasn't perfect defense but we just tried to execute."

Guard Dan Shook was the only other player to score in double-figures for Woodstock. He had 14 points. Center Nick Kubiak scored 4 points but gave Woodstock an inside presence that had been missing for the much of the season. Kubiak joined the team only two weeks ago after being out for the start of the season while recovering from knee surgery.

"It's nice to have Nick back," Woodstock coach Alex Baker said. "We had to adjust the way we played the first part of the season. We got through it OK, but having him back at full speed come tournament time will be big for us."

No one scored in double figures for Wauconda. Reserve Dylan Latiolais finished with a team-high 7 points, including a 5-for-5 performance from the free throw line.

"Their length bothered us and we just couldn't hit our shots, even though we had opportunities," Wauconda coach Scott Luetschwager said. "We didn't have the size to match up with them inside and that kind of affected us too.

"By the fourth quarter, you could tell the kids were frustrated that the shots weren't falling. I give Woodstock's defense a lot of credit for that. When you're hitting your shots, it makes life a lot easier."

  Wauconda's Danny Stanley takes a shot over teammate Fletcher Klein and Woodstock's Josh Turner (24) during Monday's basketball game in Wauconda. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
  Wauconda's Jimmy Ott (4) drives hard to the basket under defensive pressure of Woodstock's Nick Kubiak on Monday in Wauconda. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
  Wauconda's Bryan Nee heads to the hoop past Woodstock's Nick Kubiak (44) during Monday's basketball game in Wauconda. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
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