Eddy steady as Mundelein tops Grayslake North

The floor general title is generally reserved for the point guard. In Mundelein's case, it's 5-foot-8 senior Sam Eddy.

The senior could pass for a coach. He can really chat about his Mustangs.

Mundelein and Grayslake North were neck and neck at halftime in the Lake Zurich MLK tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Mustangs held just a 3-point halftime lead.

"We were a little lackadaisical in the first half," Eddy said after the Mustangs used a big second half to win 61-49. "So we wanted to step it up both offensively and defensively."

The floor general did not have a single point in the opening half. Just wait.

Conor Enright (17 points) started the second-half Mundelein offense with a floater. Jack Bikus added a fadeaway, Eddy made a drive to hoop, and senior Brandon Paluch made a layup.

"Coach (Matt Badgley) calls him the enforcer," Eddy said of the 6-6 Paluch.

Eddy hit a 3-pointer, and the Mundelein lead had hit double figures.

Eddy (season-high 11 points) finished the game with a fastbreak layup, sending Mundelein (12-7) into Monday's 1 p.m. consolation championship game against Maine East.

"Mundelein's program had been down," Eddy said. "We wanted to change the culture here. We want to give it our all every night. Now, it feels good."

Grayslake North (8-9), which saw its losing streak reach six games, got another impressive performance from Ryan Connolly, who scored 24 points. But coach Todd Grunloh has noticed a little bump in self confidence with his team playing some bigger schools.

"We just need to get some more offense," said Grunloh, whose Knights will play Streamwood at 10 a.m. Monday. "We know we are undersized so that limits our second-chance points. But we threw a lot of passes into Mundelein's hands today."

Grayslake North had one lead. It came on Austin Martineau's 3-pointer to open the festivities. On Connolly's drive to the hoop in the opening quarter, the score ted at 10-10.

Paluch, a tight end in football, Paluch, filled in admirably for Scottie Ebube when he got in foul trouble. Paluch's favorite sport?

"Definitely basketball," he said.

The Mundelein lead stretched to 14 points late in the third quarter on a bucket by 6-5 Nolan Thier.

Connally hit three 3-pointers. His last one cut the Mundelein lead to 48-39 at the end of the third quarter.

Martineau backed up Connolly with 11 points.

Paluch and Ebube finished with 9 and 6 points, respectively. Bikus dropped in 9 points for the Mustangs, and Andrew Gonzalez had eight.