UPDATED: Knight Time For Sports

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL:

Talk about a team that is muy caliente – the Lady Knights are on fire! They racked up their 12th consecutive victory on Wednesday beating Hampshire 43-36. This win tied the North school record for most wins in a season by the girls’ basketball team with 14 games still left to go before the state playoffs.

Joanna Guhl led all scorers with 13 points and 11 boards. Team sparkplug Allie Ceglarek tossed in a season high 11 and was all over the court defensively. Brooke Sauer dropped a 10 spot on the Whip-Purs and snagged 7 rebounds.

NEXT UP:

• Woodstock - away on Jan. 6. This conference game includes the opportunity to set the school record for wins in a season with 13! 
• Grayslake Central - home on Jan. 10. 
• Crystal Lake Central - home on Jan. 13.
• Woodstock North - home on Jan. 17.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL:

12/27/11

Grayslake North fell to Lakes 62-56. Mark Hall threw in a career high 19 points for the Knights while Danny Mateling scored 15 and Ben Guhl netted 11.

"Playing Lakes for the second time in a two-week span, we knew that they were going to make some adjustments to their game plan and approach against us since we held them to 42 points in the first meeting," said Head Coach Todd Grunloh. "It was a back and forth game for the first two quarters but they eventually pulled away in the second half as we were not able to consistently stop them. Lakes did a better job of controlling the tempo and scoring in the open court. Mark Hall played an outstanding game, scoring 19 points (8 in the fourth quarter).

12/28/11

Grayslake North fell one point short in a loss to Northridge Prep, 51-50. Zack Krupp led the Knights with 14 points (4 of 5 from beyond the arc). AJ Fish had 12 points and 13 rebounds for his second career double-double.

"Northridge Prep did a great job to start off the game and opened up a 16-4 advantage in the 1st Quarter," said Grunloh. "But we were able to regroup in the second quarter and actually had a two-point lead going into halftime (25-23). We had a great deal of success against their zone and were actually up 11 at one point in the third quarter, but really struggled to score in the fourth quarter. They regained the lead for the first time in the second half with less than one minute remaining. Although we took the lead back on two separate occasions, Northridge Prep was able to hold on for the one-point victory."

12/29/11

Grayslake North dropped a second consecutive one-point game. This time Richmond-Burton edged them 37-36. Danny Mateling led the team with 14 points and Mark Hall chipped in with 11 points.

Coach Grunloh called it the most frustrating game of the season. "We really struggled in putting together solid stretches of basketball. Although we played great team defense and held a much bigger Richmond-Burton team to 37 points, we just never developed the tempo at which we needed to play."

"I give credit to Richmond-Burton," Grunloh added, "they did a great job of slowing down the game and we were never able to capitalize on our team speed. They were very patient on the offensive end of the floor and shot the ball well in the fourth quarter with the game on the line."

12/30/11

Grayslake North defeated Johnsburg 64-56 for a big conference win to break up a recent three-game losing streak. Mark Hall continued to improve and led the team with 15 points to go with his 9 rebounds. AJ Fish contributed 13 points, Danny Mateling added 12 and Nick Carmody tallied 11. Zack Krupp put up 11 points to go with his 12 rebounds for his third career double-double. 

The Knights played with more energy than they had in the previous two losses.

"The Johnsburg game was just a great all-around team effort. All five of our starters scored in double digits and did a much better job of establishing the tempo of our choice," said Grunloh. "On a night that we didn't shoot particularly well, we were able to score in the 60’s largely due to crashing the boards and getting 16 offensive rebounds. Nick Carmody did a nice job, especially in the first half, of moving on offense and creating some open looks. Mark Hall, who was selected to the All-Tournament Team, continued his excellent play of late and fell just one rebound short of a double-double. Although Danny Mateling struggled from the floor he was able to go 8-8 from the free throw line, including 6-6 to seal the victory in the fourth quarter."

1/04/12

The Knights shot down the Jacobs Golden Eagles 75-69 this Wednesday Jan. 4. This was their first ever win over Jacobs in boys basketball. Junior guard AJ Fish led the Knights with a career high 26 points and 7 rebounds.

"AJ Fish had an impressive performance as he was able to score from both inside, outside, and the free throw line," said Grunloh. Mark Hall dropped in 17 and guard Danny Mateling contributed a dozen more.

"Mark Hall continued his great play this before he eventually fouled out in the fourth quarter," said Grunloh. Zach Krupp added 8 points and 5 rebounds while Jake Buckels netted 7 with 4 boards.

"We did a lot of things well on offense against Jacobs – we moved the ball, we got open looks, and we knocked some big shots down in clutch moments on the road. Our backcourt did an outstanding job of breaking down Jacobs’ pressure man-to-man defense and really kept them off-balanced the entire night on the defensive end," said Grunloh.

"We had several other key performances as well. Once again, Danny Mateling did a great job of making free throws to seal the victory, and I thought Nick Carmody, Jake Buckels, and Brendon Rose gave us big minutes. As the score would indicate we need to do a little more work on the defensive end before we start conference play on Saturday, but give credit to Jacobs as they were able to find the open man in their Flex offense and shot the ball very well."

NEXT UP:

• Woodstock North - away on Jan. 7. 
• Johnsburg - away on Jan. 10. 

CORRECTION:

Information provided on the North wrestling team was incorrect and has been removed from the story. Patch regrets the error.