Lake Forest’s Ryan Kitchel drives to the bucket against GBN’s Luke Amen. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
Entertaining basketball.
Lake Forest High School and Glenbrook North looked to be playoff ready on March 1.
In a Class 4A regional semifinal at GBN, visiting Lake Forest survived a late surge and claimed a hard-fought 58-55 victory.
The Scouts, seeded No. 7 in the Glenbrook South Sectional, will face Deerfield in Friday’s night regional title game at 7 p.m.
The No. 2-seeded Warriors (26-3) advanced with an 81-55 victory over Maine East.
The Scouts (18-9) know all about Deerfield. On Dec. 22, in a game held at Lake Forest, they defeated the Warriors 44-38.
GBN, which was seeded No. 11 in the sectional, finished the season with a 15-12 overall record.
Game Rating: A-
Referee Rating: B
LF Game Balls: Lorenzo Edwards, Ryan Kitchel, Justin McMahon
GBN Game Balls: Zach Hoffman, Kellen Witherell
LF Stat Leaders: Edwards (18 points, 13 rebounds, 5 blocks, 2 assists), Kitchel (15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), McMahon (13 points, 2 assists, 2 steals)
GBN Stat Leaders: Hoffman (14 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks), Witherell (12 points)
LF Unsung Hero: Connor Hannekamp (4 points, 2 assists)
GBN Unsung Hero: Luke Amen (8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals)
Moment of Truth: Lake Forest protected its lead late in the game by going 9-for-10 from foul line in the final 2:26. For the game, the Scouts made 17 of 19 free throws.
Notable: Witherell caught fire down the stretch. The sophomore, who earned all-star recognition in the Central Suburban League North Division, didn’t miss a shot in the fourth quarter (11 points). Nine of his points came via the three-ball. … GBN junior James Karis cut the Lake Forest to three points, 55-52, with 42 seconds left by scoring on a nifty reverse layup. Somehow, the 5-foot-10 guard found a way to maneuver around the 6-8 Edwards. … Hoffman came up with a near-perfect performance. The senior had four assists in the final frame. He had two steals and one block in the third quarter. And he knocked down three three-pointers in the first half. … Meanwhile, Kitchel pretty much had a mistake-free game for Lake Forest. His 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting was a career high. Four of his points came on strong drives to the bucket. He finished 5-for-5 from foul line. And here’s when you know things are really going well: a lane violation by a GBN player wiped off a missed free throw in the fourth quarter. … Edwards was the most dominant player on the floor. He was good on 7 of 11 field goals and 3 of 4 free throws. In fact, he even banked in a three-pointer in the third quarter. On the defensive end, he swatted down five shots. Three of his blocks came back-to-back-to-back in the opening minutes of the second quarter. … McMahon turned in steady play throughout. He showed some offensive versatility. His first three points came on a shot from beyond the arc in the opening quarter. His next basket came on a baseline line drive in the second period. In the third quarter, he stopped and popped in a 14-footer off the dribble. And then, he helped seal the win by hitting four free throws in the final 1:59. … This game had three buzzer-beating shots. GBN’s Michael Stachnik beat the clock with a three-pointer from the left corner to end the first quarter. Amen scored on a coast-to-coast layup just as the horn sounded to end the second quarter. And Edwards buried a tough shot from the baseline just ahead of the third-quarter buzzer.
Sound Bites: “I was expecting a game like this from them. They do a great job of spreading the court. And they can really shoot it. They’re well-coached and they do a great job of executing their stuff.” — Lake Forest head coach Phil LaScala
“Ryan [Kitchel] did a really nice job. If you were to give out a game ball to someone, you would give it to him. He was fun to watch tonight.” — LaScala
“Our guys hit some pressure free throws tonight. They went up there with a lot of confidence.” — LaScala
“He [Hoffman] left it all on the floor tonight. He didn’t want the season to end.” — Glenbrook North coach David Weber
“Lake Forest is a great team. You can’t make mistakes against them. We played right with them. We played with a high level of intensity. I’m proud of our kids. It was a great effort.” — Weber
“He [Edwards] had 18. But when we scouted him, he scored 34.” — Weber
“Now we’ve got to get ready for Deerfield. It will be a good test for us.” — LF’s Ryan Kitchel
GBN’S Zach Hoffman (No. 24) tries to steal the ball from LF’s Lorenzo Edwards. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
James Karis of the Spartans makes a reverse layup against LF’s Lorenzo Edwards. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
GBN’S Michael Stachnik (No. 40) defends LF’s Ryan Kitchel. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
GBN’S James Karis drives the lane against LF’s Matt Begley. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
GBN’S Tommy Gertner works against LF’s Lorenzo Edwards.
Justin McMahon of the Scouts tracks down a loose basketball.