Carmel prevails at Grayslake North as Knights get back to it

Grayslake North's boys enjoyed a break from basketball during the holiday break, and now the Knights get no break.

They hosted Carmel Catholic on Wednesday night in the first game of 2018 for either team and got just what it needed.

Zion Kilpatrick's game-high 15 points led a balanced attack, as Carmel captured a 53-47 win in MLK-tournament play, but Grayslake North left its home gym feeling good about itself, while gaining the respect of its opponent.

"They're a lot tougher than they look," said Kilpatrick, who hit 5 of 6 free throws in the fourth quarter to help keep the Knights at bay. "On a lot of the film we had they were missing players. They're a physical team. You go through some of their screens, and you gain some respect for them. They made some good plays out there tonight."

James Connolly, who missed Grayslake North's last two games before the break with a concussion, had a team-high 12 points and 7 rebounds in his return to the lineup. Ryan Connolly, who didn't start because an ankle injury limited his practice time, added 10 points and 8 boards. Jamon Thomas had 9 points, while Louis Lopez also returned to the lineup from injury and got minutes coming off the bench.

"That was probably our best game," coach Todd Grunloh said after his Knights fell to 3-8. "That's the best approach we've had, and that's the best we've competed for 32 minutes."

Carmel (9-5) split four competitive games in the Centralia Holiday Tournament, losing twice on last-second shots. Evan Myers and DaMone Williams-Gray added 13 points apiece for the Corsairs. Freshman point guard Kimahri Wilson, who made second team all-tournament at Centralia, had 5 points and 4 assists.

"Good in spurts," Carmel coach Zack Ryan said of his team. "We didn't play with a lot of urgency early on and parts of the second half. We told our guys, 'They haven't played in a while and they got some good players. Their 3-7 record is deceptive.' "

Grayslake North's Austin Martineau scored the game's basket, and the Knights never relented. That's the effort Grunloh was looking for, especially considering his team had not played in 15 days. The Knights' January schedule also includes games against Buffalo Grove (Saturday) and Geneva.

"It doesn't matter what our record is," Grunloh said. "We have to play teams that are going to make us better for our conference and also regionals."

Carmel was up 38-28 after Myers hit 4 free throws (2 technical foul shots) with 2:44 left in the third quarter. The junior then nailed a 3-pointer to make it a 13-point advantage, but a 5-0 run by the Connolly brothers had Grayslake North within 41-33 entering the fourth.

James Connolly didn't feel he was rusty, despite playing his first game in three weeks.

"I feel like I played hard," the senior forward said. "We didn't get the win, but I feel like we had a good team effort. I feel like it brought us closer."

Ryan Connolly opened the fourth with a thunderous dunk, and his 2 free throws with 5:17 left got the Knights within 42-39, but Kilpatrick answered by knocking down 2 foul shots, and Myers followed with 3.

"We were a little lackadaisical coming out," Kilpatrick said. "We looked at their record and we looked at what we had done (in Centralia), playing teams like Alton and Evanston."

Carmel had chances to pull away down the stretch but missed 5 free throws in the final 2:11.

"In order for us to get to the next level where we think we can go, we got to put together 32 minutes," Ryan said. "Credit to (Grayslake North). They played hard, they made some shots, and they kept us on our toes."