Knight Time For Sports

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL:

The Grayslake North girls basketball team has earned an impressive overall record of 20-8. They are 8-4 in conference play in the Fox Division. Each victory sets the standard higher for future Lady Knights. The team has come together and are peaking in time for the biggest run in school history in the state playoffs.

(2/04/12)

Grayslake North 49, Crystal Lake Central 25

(2/07/12)

Grayslake North 38, Grayslake Central 47

(2/15/12)

Grayslake North 46, North Chicago 44 (IHSA Regional Semi-Final)

NEXT UP:

The Lady Knights are the top seed at the Chicago (Northside Prep) Regional and have the #4 seed at the Arlington Heights Sectional. They will play St. Viator at 7:30 p.m. at Chicago Northside Prep for the Regional Championship on Friday, February 17.

If they win that game they move on to the Arlington Heights Sectional and play the winner of the Wauconda Regional (which could be Grayslake Central). That game is scheduled for Tuesday, February 21 at 6 p.m. at St. Viator High School.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL:

The Knights are now 15-7 for the season and 7-2 in conference play. The team is ready to make a serious run in the state playoffs.

(2/8/12)

Grayslake North 61, Johnsburg 58

"It was the third straight game that we played in which we never trailed," said Head Coach Todd Grunloh. "We played one of our better 16 minutes of basketball to start the game and led Johnsburg by 16 (34-18) at half, and completely dominated at times on defense and in transition. In the 3rd Quarter, Johnsburg began having more success against us on the offensive side of the court, but we still led by 16 (49-33) going into the 4th Quarter. Despite having a lead of 21, Johnsburg came back and tied with just under 2:00 to play. I wasn’t very pleased with our shot selection and ball security in the 4th Quarter, but I was proud that after Johnsburg tied it we were able to keep our composure and put together a good possession in which we eventually retook the lead. We also made some clutch free throws to extend the lead to 3 with less than 10 seconds left. As difficult as it is to explain it almost looked like our kids were relieved when Johnsburg tied the score because we began playing to win again, rather than playing not to lose like we had for the better part of 8:00. Give credit to Johnsburg - they came to life in the 4th Quarter and made some tough shots, but more impressively picked up the defensive intensity. We need to be more productive in our ½ court offense with big leads."

Grunloh added: "We seem to get too comfortable and start forcing quick shots and moving away from what was successful earlier in the game. There are a few ways you can look at it I guess – we didn’t finish the game the way we wanted but we were still able to pull out a close win and I think that demonstrates the type of character that our kids possess. AJ Fish led all scorers with 23 points and tied a program record with 7 steals. Danny Mateling added 14 points, and Mark Hall had 12 points."

(2/11/12)

Grayslake North 50, Hampshire 48

"The last time that we played Hampshire, we led most of the game and then lost the lead in the late stages of the game," said Grunloh. "It was a frustrating game in that we were not able to get a shot off in our final possession to tie or take the lead. On Saturday, we got a little payback for that crucial loss in a game that was much like the first except we were the team who trailed almost the entire game and took the lead in the last few minutes. For a big game, I thought we came out a little flat but still only trailed at halftime by the score of 25-21. Almost immediately in the second half you could tell that we were playing with a little bit more emotion and energy but Hampshire was able to make some tough shots and extend their lead to 11 midway through the 3rd Quarter. Our kids did a great job of not getting down on themselves and played inspired, eventually cutting the lead to 2 by the end of the 3rd Quarter. With under two-minutes we were able to take the lead on a jumper by AJ Fish, but Hampshire came down and had a putback to reclaim a 1-point lead. We called a timeout, set up a play that we executed almost perfectly and Hampshire fouled AJ as he was driving to the basket for a lay-up. AJ made both free throws with less than 20 seconds left and Hampshire’s last shot was unsuccessful. Mark Hall made the first of two free throws and Ben Guhl got an offensive rebound on Mark’s miss to end the game. AJ Fish had 13 points & 10 rebounds. Mark Hall added 10 points, Zack Krupp 9 points & 7 rebounds, and Danny Mateling had 8 points. Ben Guhl had a great second half and finished with 8 points (all in the 2nd half). One of the most significant stats was that we held their two centers to 19 points and in the previous meeting they combined for 35 points."

NEXT UP: On Friday, February 17, North travels to Crystal Lake Central for an important conference game. Then on Tuesday, February 21, the Knights host cross-town rivals Grayslake Central for a big showdown.

WRESTLING:

(1/27-28/12)

FVC Conference Championship at Huntley

Kasen Christiansen repeated as Conference Champion at the 285 lb. weight class. Andrew Soulis took 2nd place in the conference at 170 lbs. Angel Cabrera (120 lbs.) took 3rd place and Zach Young took 4th place for the Knights.

(2/04/12)

IHSA 2A Regional at Antioch

At the IHSA 2A Regional Meet held in Antioch, Andrew Soulis (170 lbs.), Jimmy Prince (182 lbs.) and Kasen Christiansen (285 lbs.) took second place for the Knights. Angel Cabrera (120 lbs.), Aaron Hoover (145 lbs.) and Zach Young (220 lbs.) all earned 3rd place finishes. A.J. Downes earned a 4th place finish.

(2/10-11/12)

Grayslake Central hosted the IHSA 2A Sectional Meet where Grayslake North’s Kasen Christiansen (285 lbs.) took 3rd place in a very competitive field. Jimmy Prince (182 lbs.) took 4th place for the Knights. 

For details on the Sectional Meet, see Chad Connelly’s article on Patch. http://grayslake.patch.com/articles/section-champion-jimmy-molitor-leads-five-grayslake-wrestlers-to-state

"Our two individuals going down state this weekend are Jimmy Prince (33-5) at 182 lbs. and Kasen Christiansen (33-9) at 285 lbs," said Head Coach Ryan West. "Kasen was also the Fox Valley Conference Champion."

He said that Prince didn’t wrestle in the conference tourney due to an injury.

"We also have Zach Young going down state as an alternate at 220," said West. "All three of these young men are seniors this year. As a team, we ended up 24-6 in dual meets and had a good year."

NEXT UP:

The IHSA State Tournament will take place this Thursday through Saturday, February 16-18 at Assembly Hall in Champaign.