Enright is all right as Mundelein wins

The only thing he had to show for it was a little mouse under his left eye.

Actually, Mundelein sophomore guard Conor Enright had plenty of bumps and bruises to show for it during the Mustangs' 60-52 victory over Fremd in the finale of the Mundelein Thanksgiving tournament on Saturday.

"That's just the way I play," said Enright, who poured in a team-high 22 points and, fortunately, didn't go into concussion protocol. "We got better as the game went on. Give credit to my teammates. They all played hard and with a lot of hustle."

It was Enright's hustle in the fourth that saw him get hit in the face with the ball, followed by a foul late in the contest that resulted in him hobbling.

"Our defense has been a big difference," Enright said after the Mustangs finished 2-2 in the five-team round robin event. "And we showed a lot of composure, especially down the stretch in holding them off."

Warren finished 3-1 to win the event, while Fremd and Lake Forest Academy also finished 2-2. Deerfield was 0-4 after a 58-54 double-overtime loss to Warren earlier in the day.

Fremd - which was led by Bryce Hopkins' 31 points - got within 39-32 after a pair of free throws by senior guard Dean Ganas (11 points). But Enright and Mundelein's aggressiveness in pushing the ball up the court prevented the Vikings from getting any closer.

Enright scored 7 points in the fourth, while sophomore center Scottie Ebube got things going in the paint, scoring 7 of his 9 points. And the Mustangs converted 12 of 18 foul shots in the fourth when the game got a little intense.

"We're really working on developing our focus and adjusting to the flow of the game," Mundelein coach Matthew Badgley said. "We did a really nice job of that tonight. And we're letting the offense come to us as we gain experience. Conor (Enright) is a big part of that. The team has been developing a lot of his personalities, which is wonderful."

Scary thought, in a good way, of course.

Fremd closed within 32-28 with 2:12 left in the third. But Mundelein senior forward Andrew Gonzalez drained a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left to up the lead to 37-30 heading to the fourth.

" (Mundelein) ran their stuff well, especially in the fourth," Fremd coach Bob Widlowski said. "We need to work on our execution, but I was real happy with the energy we brought for the whole tournament."

Fremd's last lead was 5-4 after a free throw by junior guard Jake Schoffstall with 1:28 left in the first. Mundelein went on a 13-0 run that stretched into the second quarter and was capped by a runner from senior guard Sam Eddy (8 points) at the 5:20 mark.

Enright's layup started the run and Gonzalez popped in 5 points.

Fremd closed within 24-14 at halftime, but Mundelein opened the third with an 8-2 run to open some distance. Enright had 6 points during the spree.

"He's a tough kid," Badgley said. "He goes so hard, but that's wonderful."

Enright and Ebube represented Mundelein on the all-tournament team. Hopkins, Schoffstall, Ganas and John Smyros made the all-tourney team for Fremd.