Knights Victorious in Final Home Game

With a victory in their final regular season game, the Knights (19-7) have set a new school record for wins in a season, and have some serious momentum heading into Tuesday night's Regional match-up against Monday night's winner (Senn or Kelvyn Park).

Because the Sophomore game went into overtime, and the Senior Night presentations, the game did not start until over an hour after the scheduled tip-off time. Perhaps it was the delay, or the emotion of the night, but the Knights got off to a rather slow start. 

Dundee-Crown pounded the ball inside to seniors Jamel Kimbrough (11pts, 12 rebs) and Ryan Smith (10pts) early and often and were able to hold the Knights scoreless for more than three minutes to start the game. Sophomore guard AJ Fish (10pts) finally got the Knights on the scoreboard with a 3-pointer with 4:50 left in the first quarter.  He would net another one just a few moments later, but the Knights trailed 11-10 after the first and it looked like they were in for a tough game.

Then the second quarter started, and senior guard Teddy Ludwick came to life.  Sporting a new look coutesy of the St Baldrick's fundraiser (see story), Ludwick scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the second quarter as the Knights went on a 14-0 run.  

"I wanted to go out on top," said Ludwick.  "I told the guys before the game that this one was really important to me, and I was not about to let us lose my last home game."

Taking a key from Ludwick, sophomore guard Danny Mateling (8pts) hit two huge 3-pointers during the Knights' run.

Ludwick, Fish, and junior guard Mark Hall (6pts) all had key steals in the quarter and junior forward Zack Krupp (8pts) blocked three shots as the Knights outscored the Chargers 23-5 in the second quarter to take a 33-16 lead into halftime.

"The guys did a great job," said Knights' coach Todd Grunloh.  "We found the open man, played GREAT defense, attacked the hoop, and hit open shots.  That was one of our best quarters of the season."

Dundee-Crown sophomore Brandon Rodriguez, who finally stopped the Knights second quarter scoring run, came out determined to get his team back in the game in the third quarter. Rodriguez would score 15 of his game-high 20 points in the third as the Chargers cut the lead to 49-41 going into the final quarter.

"23 [Rodriguez] just took over for a while there," said Grunloh.  "We started breaking down fundamentally, and he really took advantage.  Had me scared there."

The Knights responded by forcing the ball to their own big man, senior center David Sparks, who scored all 13 of his points in the second half.  Sparks' aggressive play in the fourth quarter led him to the basket or to the freethrow line, and the Knights were able to maintain their lead.

"Coach said to get in there and try to put their bigs in foul trouble," said Sparks.  "AJ and Teddy were hitting all their shots, so really, I didn't have to work real hard until the second half," he joked.

With just over a minute to play, and the Knights comfortably ahead, Sparks, Ludwick, and the rest of the starters got a nice ovation as Coach Grunloh emptied his bench and the home team cruised to a 66-54 victory.

"This was a nice win," said Grunloh.  "D-C is a big team from the 'big side' of the conference and this was a great way to head into Regionals.

Ludwick echoed his coaches sentiments, saying, "They're a lot like the teams we're going to be seeing- big, athletic guys, and those fast guys that hit all their shots.  This was great preparation for Regionals."

Here's hoping for a long run into the playoffs, but regardless of how they fare on Tuesday night, Coach Grunloh and his team deserve to be complimented on their season.  They broke the school record for wins, only lost one home game all season, and finally netted a victory over crosstown rivals Grayslake Central.  Great job Knights.