Baker's treys lift Mundelein past Deerfield
Mundelein junior guard Trey Baker, 0 for 6 on six 3-point shots, stood at the end of his team's bench late in the first half, shaking his head in frustration while grabbing a sip of water from a Gatorade cooler.
One half of basketball changed Baker's mood and changed the momentum of Mundelein's game against Deerfield in the latter's Thanksgiving tournament on Wednesday night.
Baker scored all of his game-high 18 points in the second half, and Mundelein won 56-46 to improve to 3-0 in the season-opening tourney, while dropping Deerfield to 2-1.
At game's end, a smiling Baker had the game ball tucked under his arm.
"He can shoot it. We know he can," Mundelein coach Matt Badgley said. "He's got to learn to flow within our group of guys. We talked at halftime about the things we wanted him to do."
With Conor Enright playing with 3 fouls and not attacking the basket as aggressively he often does, Baker found his rhythm in the third quarter. After missing his first shot, the 5-foot-9 transfer from Stevenson knocked down his next three (all from beyond the arc), scoring 11 points to help Mundelein extend a 20-19 halftime advantage to 38-34 heading into the fourth.
Baker hit both of his fourth-quarter shots (one 3-pointer) and also dished to Jack Bikus (6 points) for a layup with 2:32 to go, hiking the Mustangs' lead to 51-42. Baker finished 5 of 13 from the floor and 4 of 4 from the line.
"We just wanted him to be more aggressive on the dribble, as opposed to standing in one spot," Badgley said. "Once he started doing that, things were able to open up for him a little bit more."
The win allowed Mundelein to avenge last season's loss to the Warriors in the Class 4A Wheeling regional final.
Scottie Ebube added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Mustangs. Enright finished with 10 points (4 of 4 from the line in the final 46 seconds) and 5 assists. Syam Atade hustled for 10 rebounds, and Chris Rooney scored 9 points off the bench.
Deerfield was led by 6-7 Walt Mattingly's 14 points and Josh Garland's 10. Warriors 6-11 center Brandon Lieb had 8 points (all in the first half) and 4 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth.
Warren 57, Collins 44: At Mundelein, Adnan Sarancic posted game bests of 25 points and 14 rebounds, and the Blue Devils picked up their first win of the season.
Jason Langevin added 8 points (two 3-pointers), 5 rebounds and 4 steals for Warren (1-2), which led 17-11 after one quarter, 29-20 at halftime and 45-29 after three. Breyton Caruthers had 7 points off the bench.
Collins (0-3) was led by Lionel Wilson and Keyandre Spann with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Glenbrook South 57, Grayslake Central 37: At Buffalo Grove, Amarion Coleman scored 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, for the Rams.
Ethan Boelens had 8 points for Grayslake Central (0-3).
Dom Martinelli led Glenbrook South with 24 points.