Balanced attack has Lake Forest boys team on a roll
By tim froehlig Contributor January 13, 2012 11:10PM
Lake Forest's John Hayes (right) dribbles past Lake Zurich's Brenden Seeger during Friday's contest. | Michael Schmidt~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 20, 2012 8:16AM
Lake Forest High School’s boys basketball team has a problem most teams would love to have.
Specifically, the Scouts have been getting scoring from just about everyone on their roster lately. And they’ve used the balanced offensive attack to their advantage recently.
After upsetting Stevenson on the road to begin the 2012 portion of the schedule, Lake Forest rallied to beat Lake Zurich 58-53 with a gritty, fourth-quarter comeback at home on Friday. That was followed by another home win: 61-50 in a North Suburban Conference crossover against Wauconda one night later.
Then, on Tuesday, the Scouts dropped host Libertyville 61-45.
Thomas Durrett has been leading the charge. He had 21 against LZ, 23 against Wauconda and 22 against Libertyville.
Freshman power forward Evan Boudreaux tallied 11 against Wauconda and added 17 more against Libertyville.
The end result? The Scouts (9-7 overall, 3-3 NSC Lake) have surged over the .500 mark, and are playing their best basketball of the season.
“It’s kind of nice (to be above .500),” said Durrett, after his team’s weekend sweep. “The way we’ve been playing lately, and with some of the tough competition we’ve gone up against and beaten … it shows we can play with anyone. I’ve just been taking what the defense gives me out there, depending on which way they decide to guard me.”
Lake Forest got 25 points from its bench against Lake Zurich, led by senior guard Luke Streppa (11 points). Junior guard Ben Simpson (5 points) made both of his shots from the field, while Cal Miller (5 points) and Sam Downey (4 points) saw significant playing time as well.
Lake Forest coach Phil LaScala has been pleased with his team’s effort, and its chemistry, of late.
“Ever since we played in the holiday tournament, I think a lot of our guys have really caught the rhythm of what we’re doing here, both offensively and defensively,” said LaScala, who has seen his team win six of its last seven. “We’ve gone from being uncertain at times early in the season to being in attack mode on both ends of the floor. Even the guys on our bench have stepped up, which is a testament to just how deep our team is. We knew all year we were gonna be a deep team, but finding the right balance and combination of who to play, and when, is important. We’re starting to figure that out now.”
The team will also get a significant boost when junior guard Carter Bass returns to the lineup. He suffered a concussion against Stevenson, and has been kept out for precautionary reasons.
While Durrett, who scored 11 of his 21 points in the final six minutes against LZ, has been carrying the bulk of the scoring load, Bass had been consistently scoring in double figures. He had games of 23, 19 and 18 points at the Hinsdale South Tournament, which earned him all-tournament honors.
“Carter (was) playing extremely well for us,” LaScala said. “But it’s been nice to see a lot of our other guys want to step up.”
The Scouts have been scoring in a variety of ways. Lake Forest shot 50 percent (19-for-38) from the field against LZ, and finished 12-for-14 from the foul line. They were also a red hot 8-for-17 from behind the three-point line.
The Scouts also shot 50 percent (14-for-28) from the field in the second half of their game against Stevenson. It’s a trend LaScala hopes will continue, especially since Lake Forest has been outstanding defensively in the fourth quarters of its last three games.
“Hopefully, we can keep that momentum going,” LaScala said. “Like I keep telling the guys, our goal is to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season, when the postseason gets here.”
On the schedule: The Scouts will host Mundelein on Friday night (7:30 p.m.). In their first meeting, the Mustangs won by 11 points.
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