Boys Basketball: Mundelein tops LF, falls to Warren
By Bryan Bonato Contributor January 26, 2012 10:10PM
Mundelein's Chino Ebube tries to shoot one over Lake Forest's Sam Downey during last Thursday's wild NSC Lake contest. | Michael Schmidt~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:12AM
Talk about a thrill.
Chino Ebube tipped in Sean O’Brien’s missed shot at the buzzer to give visiting Mundelein a 70-69 overtime victory over Lake Forest last Thursday.
It was the biggest varsity basketball moment ever for Ebube.
“I feel ecstatic,” Ebube said. “I had to make up for the missed rebound on the free throw. I just had to get to the rim.”
The Mustangs actually were lucky Ebube was even on the court at the end.
Down 69-68 after the Scouts’ John Hayes hit a floater with 12 seconds left, Mundelein called a timeout with 3.3 seconds left.
When the Mustangs next took the floor, Ebube was on the bench. It wasn’t until Lake Forest then called a timeout that Mundelein assistant coach Corey Knigge suggested Ebube be inserted and go straight to the hoop for a possible tip-in.
And that’s exactly how it worked out.
O’Brien drove baseline, but he didn’t have a good look, which is where Ebube came in.
“Sean was trying to score, but coming out of the timeout, he told Chino that if he had a bad angle, that he was going to put it up on the rim and that Chino should tip it in.” said Mundelein coach Richard Knar.
Mundelein’s victory snapped Lake Forest’s five-game winning streak.
Lake Forest (11-8, 4-4) tied the game at 58-58 when freshman Evan Boudreaux rebounded a missed free throw and scored when Ebube didn’t block him out in the final minute of regulation.
Robert Knar (game-high 34 points on 12-of-26 shooting, including 8-of-15 from downtown) missed just before the buzzer, sending the game to OT.
Hayes led the Scouts with 23 points. Boudreaux had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Thomas Durrett scored 13.
“We tried to put a little quicker lineup in there (on the final play) and it backfired on us,” said Scouts coach Phil LaScala.
Mundelein led by as many as 14 points (45-31) in the third quarter.
Lake Forest’s biggest lead in overtime was four points.
Recap: Mundelein had very little time to dwell on the win.
On Saturday night, the Mustangs played a road game against powerhouse Warren.
Trailing by a point midway through the third quarter, host Warren outscored the Mustangs 25-7 in an 8:47 stretch around the third-quarter break and went on to win 87-78.
Warren (15-2 overall, 6-1) now has a game lead and the tiebreaker edge over Mundelein (19-5 and 6-2) in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division race.
The game was played at Mundelein’s high-octane pace, but Warren showed it could beat the Mustangs at their own game.
Darius Paul had a career-high 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the winners.
Nathan Boothe added 23 points and 17 boards, while Jameris Smith (12 points, eight assists) and JoVaughn Gaines (14 points, six assists, five rebounds) also had big games.
Warren had a 37-23 rebounding edge in the game.
Warren’s fifth starter, Mitch Munda, had the Devils’ other eight points.
“It was a very good offensive game for both teams. It was fast-paced without a lot of turnovers,” said Warren coach Chuck Ramsey. “Defensively, we didn’t do a very good job.
“I’ll give credit to the offenses. Both teams were making shots (Warren was 32-of-66 and Mundelein was 31-of-66, including 10-of-23 from long range), but we made a lot of defensive mistakes tonight. We still have a lot of work to do.”
Ramsey said the 25-7 run was the only stretch of the game where his team played defense.
For Mundelein, junior guard Robert Knar had 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting, including 5-of-9 from behind the arc.
O’Brien had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore guard Nate Williams added 12.
Paul was 12-of-19 from the field, including 5-of-6 from downtown.
“They were double-teaming Nathan and not me, so I had some open shots,” Paul said. “It’s a good feeling. I try to make every shot. It just seemed like all the shots I was throwing up went in tonight.”
As for playing at Mundelein’s frenetic pace, Paul gave it a big thumb’s up — out of sight of his coach, of course.
Despite the loss, Knar feels like he and his teammates accomplished something against a team they’ve had zero luck against.
“We’re not big on moral victories, but tonight showed us something,” the junior said.
“It showed us that they’re not unbeatable. We were able to play them tough at their place,” Knar added. “We’re going to take it a game at a time and hopefully we can get a shot at them in sectionals.”
The Mustangs were scheduled to play Zion-Benton on Tuesday night.
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