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Jacobson's appearance a bonus for Vernon Hills; vote for Holmes

One - and the bonus.

One unexpected game played for Vernon Hills senior forward Ryan Jacobson. A bonus point, too, thanks to a free throw.

The extra bonus? The Cougars beat visiting Lake View 67-38 Monday on a night they honored their 13 seniors.

For a guy whose high school basketball career seemingly ended when he tore his ACL in Vernon Hills' second game of the season, Jacobson had quite a night.

Both he and senior center Michael Moore were in uniform against Lake View. Moore hadn't played all season after suffering a patellar dislocation during the Cougars' preseason scrimmage. Both Jacobson and Moore not only got in the game against Lake View, but made the stat sheet. Jacobson sank a free throw, while Moore grabbed a rebound.

"Well, it worked out perfectly with a little help from Lake View and the officials," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. "I wanted Ryan and Michael to dress for the game because it was Senior Night. We were up handily in the waning seconds. The official told Lake View that Ryan had a torn ACL and protected him. We were able to get Ryan the ball on an inbound pass. Lake View was nice enough to take a foul with a couple seconds left. Ryan swished his free throw.

"It was pretty cool for him obviously, but there was a lot of emotion from his teammates and his parents as well," McCarty added. "Just a really great way to wrap up a Senior Night game. A lot of credit goes to the officials and Lake View for allowing it to happen."

The 6-foot-4 Jacobson, who was an all-area player last season, had surgery in December. He tore his ACL in the final minutes of the Cougars' 46-40 win over host Northridge Prep.

"What was amazing about that moment was that Ryan had a really important block on a game-tying layup and then made 2 free throws to push our lead to four," McCarty said. "He did all that with a torn ACL."

The 6-6 Moore will be pitching for McHenry County College next year.

"Thankfully, his rehab has been going very well," McCarty said, "and hopefully he will be cleared to start baseball season in a couple weeks."

Voting for Holmes a slam dunk: American Family Insurance and Intersport announced this week that the final contestants in its high school slam dunk and 3-point championships will be determined by a public online voting contest.

Stevenson senior forward RJ Holmes is a candidate to compete in the dunk contest.

The American Family Insurance "#DreamFearlessly Fan Vote" is a four-week digital media contest that will match up 16 of the top high school dunkers, boys 3-point shooters and girls 3-point shooters in the nation in a bracket-style competition to determine the final participants in each category.

Fans can vote for their favorite players using an interactive bracket by entering the American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships website at www.amfam.com/fanvote. The athlete with the most votes in each matchup will advance to the next round.

Video highlight reels of each competitor on the website will help fans determine their choice. Voting began Tuesday and concludes Friday, March 13 at 1 p.m. ET. Fans can vote daily at www.amfam.com/fanvote. The schedule for each voting round will go as follows:

•Round One: Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. ET through Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. ET (16 players)

•Quarterfinals: Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. ET through Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. ET (8 players)

•Semifinals: Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. ET through March 5 at 1 p.m. ET (4 players)

•Finals: March 6 at 1 p.m. ET through March 13 at 1 p.m. ET (2 players)

The players that ultimately receive the most votes in the final round will be selected to compete in the dunk and 3-point championships, held annually in the Final Four host city. The championships will air on CBS during Final Four weekend in Atlanta on April 5 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Resilient Mustangs: Mundelein rallied late in the fourth quarter against Lake Forest last Saturday night and won in overtime. The Mustangs then won in similar fashion against Zion-Benton on Tuesday night, overcoming a 6-point deficit late in the fourth to win on their home court.

"We learned that we can compete with any team in the conference," Mundelein junior guard Trey Baker said after scoring 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 5 of 8 from three-point range, and 3-of-3 shooting from the free-throw line. "When we play hard, when we play smart and when we play together, we always have a chance."

Baker, who played for Stevenson as a freshman and sophomore, faces his ex-teammates again on Friday night, when Mundelein (22-3, 9-1) hosts Stevenson (19-4, 9-1). Baker scored a game-high 22 points in the teams' first meeting.

  Stevenson's RJ Holmes slams one home against visiting Mundelein last month. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
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