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It's a winning call as Schaumburg subdues Grayslake North

Bringing up an underclassman for varsity basketball isn't a simple consideration.

Yet that's the one Schaumburg coach Wade Heisler has had to make in each of his three seasons in charge of the team.

Two years ago, he brought freshman Heze Trotter up to the Saxons' varsity group in the season's fifth game

Last year, it was sophomore Michael Hodges getting the call from Heisler.

And this season it was Michael's younger brother, Chris, who's made the varsity roster as a ninth-grader.

On Tuesday night, all three played important roles in the Saxons' 62-52 win over visiting Grayslake North.

"You don't make such a decision lightly," Heisler said. "You're not bringing someone up to the varsity to sit on the bench. In making such a decision, you do your best to project an immediate role for that player."

A 12-4 run over the final 4:10 of the opening half broke open a 21-all tie, giving Schaumburg (3-7) a 33-25 lead at intermission. Back-to-back scores by the Hodges brothers finished the run as Michael (13 points) scored on a putback with 43 seconds remaining and Chris scored on a feed from Dom Tyler with 2 seconds left.

Chris Hodges scored 8 of his team-high 16 points in the third quarter, getting a couple of putbacks, an inside drive and a layup as the Saxons took a 45-40 lead into the fourth.

After a pair of free throws brought Grayslake North (3-5) within 45-42 with 6:04 to play, 6 of Tyler's 10 points, highlighted by a steal, drive and layup by the 6-foot senior guard, helped to reopen a 51-42 edge with 3:29 left.

The Knights got no closer than 5 points the rest of the way.

Trotter, who finished with 11 points, says having the most varsity experience can be a help to his teammates.

"I try to help them with both having gone through many of the same things that I went through during my first two years," Trotter said. "Tonight we had a good team effort. It's games like this that help build confidence. It was a game where everyone stepped up."

A sentiment echoed by Heisler, as Schaumburg snapped a three game losing skid.

"I felt like our guys made a commitment to not have the same mistakes bite us like they did in those losses," he said.

Sophomore Ryan Connolly paced the Knights with a game-high 22 points.

For North coach Todd Grunloh, whose squad returns to Northern Lake County Conference play at Wauconda on Saturday, he takes the glass half-full approach.

"The good news is that we started to narrow the number of mistakes that we've been making recently," he said. "We have a lot of good pieces that we need to correctly put in place."

For Schaumburg, a Friday night home date versus MSL West neighbor Hoffman Estates awaits.

'I think that Hoffman has outstanding talent." Heisler said. "Plus, it's another rivalry game and we know that there will be a large crowd. It will be an exciting atmosphere."

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