Grayslake North, Connolly take one on nose

On a night he passed his big brother on Grayslake North's all-time basketball scoring list, Ryan Connolly left the gym with a swollen nose.

And, no, big brother didn't punch little brother.

Rather, Ryan Connolly absorbed an errant elbow under the basket during the third quarter of the Knights' nonconference game against visiting Glenbrook North on Tuesday night. He left the game momentarily, and early in the fourth quarter the 6-foot-2 junior guard sank a foul-line jumper to pass James Connolly (1,111 points) and move up to No. 3 in career points among Knights.

James, a freshman hoops player at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, is home for Christmas break and was in attendance.

"I was told before the game that I was about to beat my brother," Ryan Connolly said. "I was shocked. But, yeah (smiling), I was definitely cool to beat my brother."

Connolly finished with a team-high 22 points, but Brian Johnson scored 22 of his 24 points in the second half, as Glenbrook North won 59-45.

Glenbrook North (6-5) and Grayslake North (8-4) were tied 19-19 at halftime, but a 3-pointer by Spencer Malkin capped a great third quarter for the Spartans, who took a 44-32 advantage into the fourth.

"Obviously we came up short, but we did a lot of things really well defensively until they got a 6- or 7-point lead," Grayslake North coach Todd Grunloh said. "Then we got pulled out of what we were trying to do and we tried to pressure too much. (Glenbrook North) did a nice job of moving the ball and getting high-percentage shots."

Johnson, a 6-5 senior forward, sank three 3-pointers and scored 17 points in the third after shooting 1 of 7 from the floor in the first half. He added 5 points, all from the line, in the fourth.

"He's been sick so he missed about 2-3 games, missed a week of practice," Glenbrook North coach David Weber said. "He's just getting his strength back. All of our guys have been sick, and we're just getting back into the swing of things here."

Connolly's eventful night also included a technical foul for admittedly too much body language after not getting a call. In the first quarter alone, the do-everything, three-year varsity starter had a one-handed dunk, grabbed a couple of rebounds, blocked a shot, took a charge and came up with a steal.

None of that stood out most to him, however.

"I think our defense has definitely improved over the last couple of weeks, and that showed in the first half," Connolly said. "That really stood out to me tonight."

Connolly, who also had 5 rebounds, shot 8 of 16 from the floor and 6 of 6 from the foul line.

"He's really talented," said Weber, whose Spartans had played against Connolly each of the last two years. "Very athletic, and he's tough to guard. That's a tough matchup for anybody."

Grayslake North, which doesn't play again until it visits Buffalo Grove on Jan. 5, also received 11 points from Tony Hines.

Glenbrook North, which snapped a three-game losing streak, also got double-digit points from Alex Press (11) and Frank Siegien (10), while Malkin scored 9 points coming off the bench.