Stevenson graduate Smith keeps soaring at Indiana

One of the best and most prolific dunkers in Lake County during his days at Stevenson, Justin Smith keeps soaring and keeps raising his game at the college level.

The Stevenson graduate is a 6-foot-7 junior forward on the Indiana University men's basketball team that was 14-4 overall and 4-3 in Big Ten Conference play heading into the Hoosiers' home game against Michigan State on Thursday night. Smith is enjoying his best season since his arrival in Bloomington. He has started all 18 games for IU and is seeing just over 30 minutes of action per game.

The captain of the Daily Herald Lake County All-Area teams in 2016 and 2017, Smith is averaging 12.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. He's second on the team in scoring. Smith is shooting .512 from the field and .630 from the free-throw line (46 of 73). He also has a team-leading 23 steals to his credit.

In recent action, Smith had 6 points and 2 rebounds against Ohio State, 18 points and 6 rebounds against Northwestern, 7 points and 5 boards against Maryland, 6 points and 8 rebounds against Arkansas, 4 points and 6 rebounds against Notre Dame and a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a Big Ten game against Nebraska.

Perry at Albion: Warren product Juwan Perry is a 6-2 junior guard on the Albion (Michigan) University men's basketball team.

In his first 13 games this season, Perry was averaging 4.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in nearly 17 minutes of action per night.

Perry has enjoyed a trifecta of 11-point scoring outputs this season against Case Western Reserve, Heidelberg and Earlham, plus a 9-point effort against Capital.

Glover at Trinity: Grant graduate Jasmine Glover is a junior forward on the Trinity Christian University women's basketball team in Deerfield. Glover previously played at McHenry County College.

In her first 18 games (9 starts), Glover averaged 6.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. The Round Lake Beach native recently scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in a game against Holy Cross, and also had 8 points and 5 rebounds against Olivet Nazarene. Earlier in the season, Glover had a season-high 14 points against Cornerstone and had a pair of 11-point showings in games against Calumet and Grace Christian.

Zobel and Lovitsch at Saint Xavier: A couple of local products have been key contributors for a Saint Xavier University women's basketball team that is 18-3 overall and 13-0 in conference play.

Lake Zurich alum McKenna Zobel is a 6-0 sophomore center who is averaging 6.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in 21 starts. She is shooting .5230 from the field and .762 from the free-throw line. She also has 17 blocked shots and 11 steals.

In recent action, Zobel had 9 points and 7 rebounds against St. Ambrose and 8 points and a season-tying-high 10 rebounds against Robert Morris.

Earlier, Zobel had season highs of 15 points and 10 rebounds in a game against Olivet Nazarene.

Teammate Sidney Lovitsch is a 5-8 junior guard out of Grayslake North. She also has played in 21 games (1 start) and is averaging 6.4 points and 3.5 rebounds in about 18 minutes of action each night. Lovitsch is shooting .455 from the field and has made 11 of 46 three-point attempts. She also has 46 assists and 28 steals to her credit.

Lovitsch had 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals against Robert Morris. She's had season highs of 18 points against St. Ambrose and 17 points against Trinity Christian.

Lakes graduates at North Central: Some postscript from North Central College's NCAA Division III national-football-championship season.

The Cardinals roster featured five Lake County-area players, all from Lakes.

Headlining that list was sophomore running back Ethan Greenfield, who led all Division III running backs in rushing yardage (2,169), all-purpose yards (2,580) and rushing touchdowns (29). All three totals are North Central single-season marks.

Greenfield established a single-game school record with 301 rushing yards in North Central's 51-15 first-round playoff win against Wabash.

Greenfield earned Associated Press first-team All-American honors and was named to the D3.com All-American second team. He also was an all-CCIW first-team pick and an all-North region selection.

Greenfield ran 27 times for 138 yards and 3 scores in North Central's title win against UW-Whitewater in Texas.

Freshman wide receiver and fellow Lakes alum DeAngelo Hardy ended the season with 50 catches for 693 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Backup quarterback Jake Johnson, a freshman from Lakes, completed 17 of 33 passes this season for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Also on the roster were junior defensive lineman Ethan Kiley and freshman offensive lineman Jack Grupka.

Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistic on Lake County-area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at mjm890@gmail.com. Winter sports submissions are encouraged.