Round Lake prevails on Pierre's 3
By the end of Nick Pierre's freshman season on Round Lake's varsity basketball team two years ago, the Panthers barely had enough players to have a bench.
They had few players on their roster and even fewer wins. None that season, to be exact.
"Nick's our total program guy," Round Lake coach Jay Iden said of the junior guard. "Even before I got the job [two years ago], Nick came up to me and was trying to convince me to take the job. He is, more than anyone, my Day-1 kid."
The Day-1 kid had a quite a night.
Pierre's go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds left helped Round Lake rally in the final minute to beat visiting Grayslake Central 51-46 on Tuesday night.
"Before the game, I went up to him and said him, 'You're going to have a big moment tonight,' " Iden said. "We have spent so much time together since the first day I took that job."
Just two years after going 0 for the season, the Panthers are 19-9, as well as 9-3 in the Northern Lake County Conference with two NLCC games remaining. Round Lake visits first-place Wauconda on Thursday night looking to beat the Bulldogs for the second time this season. If it happens, Round Lake and Wauconda will be tied for the top stop.
Hakim Williams led the Panthers against Grayslake Central (15-12, 8-4), scoring a game-high 21 points, including 9 of 10 from the foul line, and 7 rebounds. He went 8 of 8 from the stripe in the fourth quarter. Deveauntay McNeal added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
"We grew up together," Pierre said of McNeal, who's also a junior. "Nobody expected it to be like this. We had (Williams') brother here, but then he moved here [transferred from Iowa]. We just all meshed together. We love basketball, and that's what we do. We got Coach (Iden) too. It's just a whole bunch of pieces put together from freshman year to now."
When Grant Hardy (team bests of 16 points, 9 rebounds) made a layup with 1:27 left in the fourth, Grayslake Central led 46-42. The Rams had closed the third quarter with an 8-0 run, getting back-to-back 3s from Daniel Rogers (13 points, 7 rebounds) to take a 33-32 lead.
The Panthers trailed most of the final quarter, but remained unfazed.
"We've been down before, down 20 at half before," Williams said. "We came back and won those games because we were composed and trusted in the defense. We play hard. We never give up on any plays."
Up two with less than 50 seconds left, Grayslake Central turned the ball over on a traveling violation. McNeal missed a one and one, but the Panthers kept possession, and it led to Pierre's second 3 of the half.
"We're known for our defense being relentless and just scrambling like that, but also being who we are no matter what the score is," Iden said. "Our talk in the huddle before [Pierre's go-ahead 3] was nothing crazy strategic. It was, 'Be yourselves, you know how to pressure, Get up in them and be who we are defensively because I guarantee we're going to get another look.' "
Then the Panthers found Pierre, who didn't hesitate when he got an open look on the left wing.
"I said, 'Flow into and get it to a shooter that we trust,' " Iden said.
"I just felt like I could make it," said Pierre, who finished with 6 points. "I always think about those shots. That's all I think about is making big plays."
Williams hit 2 free throws with 22.5 seconds left, and McNeal's steal and layup in the closing seconds iced it. McNeal finished 5 of 6 from the foul line.
"After our game against (Grayslake) North, when we were 5 of 15, he got on us so bad," McNeal said of Iden. "We went to practice the next day, and it was a heck of a practice."