Mundelein handles Grayslake North

Kendall Klatt returned this season being one of the leaders for the Mundelein girls basketball team. The junior had a career game in her second game of the season with 20 points and 8 rebounds. Morgan Frank added 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

Those leaders helped Mundelein to its first victory of the young season, 44-27 over Grayslake North in the Mundelein Thanksgiving basketball tournament on Tuesday night in Mundelein.

Klatt put forth a lot of energy on the court in the second half, scoring 10 points in the third quarter and 16 of her 20 in the second half. But she also found a way to save a ball while going head first on the floor while keeping the ball inbounds and missing the scorer's table.

"I was just trying to save the ball, so we can get more possessions on our team," Klatt said. "We wanted to keep scoring and make (Grayslake North) uncomfortable. I was going full force and threw the ball behind my head and really threw it high up. It went at least 20 feet up in the air and two feet away from the sidelines. It didn't go far out, just high up. I was just trying to keep the ball in play and finding my teammates open."

That play was part of what the Mustangs (1-1) did in expanding their 19-10 lead at the break, which they did by going on a 16-5 run for a 35-15 lead with 1:45 left in the third quarter. Frank capped off the run with a short jump shot.

Grayslake North (0-2) scored the last 5 points in the quarter behind Savannah Guenther (team-high 15 points) and the Knights trailed 35-20.

Mundelein started the game off quickly, while Grayslake North scored the opening point on a free throw. The Mustangs had 15 unanswered points before the Knights closed the first quarter with a free throw.

"This was the second night in a row that we had a bad first quarter," Grayslake North coach Rob Nicoletti said. "We did follow it with a really good second quarter. But, we had to make up the hole that we dug ourselves into. It's a learning experience, but playing in this tournament you play five games in six days. You see a little bit of everything. Defensively we have to get better and we have to rebound the ball better. Offensively, it's turnovers."

The Mustangs' good start was benefitted by a full court defense that forced the Knights into trouble and turnovers.

"That was part of pregame plan, to see what it was like early," Mundelein coach Greg Dorgan said. "It seemed to put (Grayslake North) into a hurry-up mode, which was exactly what we wanted to do.

"We wanted a better feeling throughout the week, we had better matchups. We wanted to be better than what we did against Glenbrook South."