Boys Basketball: Fast start propels Lake Zurich to victory at Bradley Center
BY TIM FROEHLIG Contributor January 28, 2012 7:56PM
Lake Zurich's John Repplinger drives to the basket against Libertyville's Luke Mathewson on Friday night. | Joe Shuman~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:19AM
For many of Lake Zurich High School’s boys basketball players, it was a dream come true.
The Bears (13-10 overall) traveled to the Bradley Center, home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, on Saturday, and played what was technically a road game against Johnsburg (6-13).
And even though LZ easily won the game 55-31, it wasn’t lost on any of the Bears that there are few teenagers in the entire world who ever get the chance to play in such an impressive venue. It certainly seemed to motivate LZ senior Doug Murphy, who notched a double-double, (game-high 11 points, 10 rebounds).
“I wasn’t really that nervous, but once the game was about to begin, it’s hard not to be excited,” Murphy said. “Especially when you’re playing in front of a lot of people, on a court where NBA players play all the time. But the hoop’s still 10 feet tall, and it’s still the same game we’ve always played. The only difference is the court’s a little longer (94 feet compared to 84).”
To his credit, Bears coach Billy Pitcher used every player on his roster by the end of the first quarter. Plus, before the game ended, nearly every LZ player took at least one shot — giving each Bear a memory they won’t soon forget. It didn’t hurt that LZ opened the game on a 10-0 run, either.
“(Johnsburg coach) Mike Toussaint is a really good coach,” Pitcher said. “He used at least four defenses against us, plus a full-court press. We saw man-to-man, a 2-3 zone, matchup defenses and a 1-2-2 zone. I thought we handled those pretty well. The thing I was most impressed with was the unselfishness we showed. We could’ve been overwhelmed coming into a big arena that we were unfamiliar with, but instead we played good team basketball. I mean, Mirko (Grcic), who’s our leading scorer, finished with just three points, but he was passing the ball well and getting teammates really involved. That speaks volumes, and is a credit to what we were trying to do out there.”
Pitcher said the team fed off the hustle of senior guard J.D. Parcheta early on. He finished with just five points, but had eight rebounds and dove for several loose balls that kept Bears possessions alive. After the game, he was among the LZ players grinning from ear-to-ear regarding the unique opportunity he had just enjoyed.
“That was a lot of fun, and I’d love to do it again someday,” Parcheta said. “I just wanted to go out there like it was any other court, but to be honest, it gave me some extra motivation. I didn’t lose any sleep (in anticipation), but once I got out there and the game was about to begin, I got some butterflies in my stomach. I actually think the court being a little bit bigger helped us out on offense, because we were able to spread things out more.”
Recap: Grcic, John Repplinger and Brenden Seeger had four assists each in the winning effort. Plus, the team’s bench chipped in 26 points, led by Jerry Bauer (8 points, 4 rebounds) and Jack Arends (8 points), who was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field.
Defensively, LZ was outstanding. They held the Skyhawks to under 25 percent shooting (13-for-54) from the field.
“We tried to force Johnsburg to take more outside shots because sometimes it’s harder to shoot in such a big arena with a different backdrop,” Pitcher said. “It’s always our goal to try and force teams to take as many perimeter shots as possible.”
On the schedule: The Bears return to North Suburban Conference Lake play when they visit Zion-Benton at 7 p.m. Friday. The Zee-Bees (7-11) are the only team in the division without a winning record.
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