St. Francis, which trailed by 12 points at halftime, stunned Wauconda 52-46 in the Class 3A Crystal Lake South sectional semifinal on Tuesday.

Top-seeded Lake Forest defeated Grayslake Central 48-27 in Tuesday’s Class 3A North Chicago sectional semifinal.

Wauconda held off Prairie Ridge, 53-49, to secure its second consecutive boys basketball regional title Friday night.

Grayslake Central senior forward Brendan Whalen picked an ideal spot on the bench for a suitable place to frame the moment. After scoring 13 points and amassing 8 rebounds to lead sixth-seeded Grayslake Central to a thrilling 53-47 overtime win over Deerfield in the Class 3A Grayslake Central regional championship game on Friday, Whalen wanted a memorable picture.

Wauconda didn’t start slow to start the postseason as the No. 1 seed of the Class 3A Crystal Lake South boys basketball sectional. The Bulldogs outscored Crystal Lake Central 22-8 in their Prairie Ridge regional semifinal on Wednesday night and never looked back, taking down the Tigers 65-39.

Wauconda’s boys basketball team accomplished more than just a victory in winning the Northern Lake County Conference championship for the second time in three years with a 59-51 win over host Grayslake Central 59-51 on Friday night.

Wauconda’s boys basketball team is one step closer to its third straight Northern Lake County Conference title. The Bulldogs ran away early and never gave up much ground in an 85-57 victory over visiting Lakes on Friday night.

It might have been a defensive struggle from start to finish when host Grayslake North met crosstown rival Grayslake Central in Northern Lake County Conference boys basketball showdown Friday night. But you couldn’t have asked for a more dramatic finish as Grayslake North senior Joseph Valera hit a game-winning shot from 15-feet out on the right wing as time expired to carry the Knights to an exciting 32-30 overtime victory over the stunned Rams.

Who is on fire on the Lake County boys basketball scene, you ask? How about the Lakes Eagles, winners of six of their last eight games. Lakes is 6-2 in January and was 11-10 overall and a robust 7-1 in Northern Lake County Conference action as a result of its strong 2022 start.

It was a big 3-pointer and even bigger shot that beat the buzzer for Lakes’ Eli Roberts. The senior banked it off the glass and through the net as the clock went to zero on the scoreboard as the Eagles soared to another impressive victory over visiting Grayslake North, 60-59, in a Northern Lake County Conference boys basketball game in Lake Villa on Tuesday night.