Adam Einloth reached the 1,000-point mark in career scoring earlier this week.
What the Grayslake North boys basketball star wants now is for his team to score enough points Saturday night to beat Crystal Lake South in the finals of the Thanksgiving week tournament at Richmond.
The Knights won their four-team pool with a 3-0 record, with the latest win coming Friday, 86-60 over North Chicago’s junior varsity team. Earlier in the week, the Knights beat Lakes 65-43 and then scuffled their way past Johnsburg 45-44.
Einloth, a 6-foot-5 senior, was 10-for-11 shooting on Friday. He finished with 22 points.
“It was good to get out there (Friday) and play before the big game, (the) championship game,” Einloth said. “We had some fun, and we were a little bit looser and ready to play.”
As for the scoring milestone, Einloth said: “It is a nice milestone to hit. I never thought coming into high school that I would reach it, but it feels good and is definitely cool to have.”
Jamal Thomas had 13 points, Jack Van Reck added 10 points off the bench, and Bobby Krebs scored nine. Grayslake North shot 35-for-55.
North Chicago’s JV team was 20-for-51 from the field. Tyrek Cooper had 15 points, Dyshawn Gales 11, and Michael Pierson 10.
Knights coach Todd Grunloh said his team never got into the flow against Johnsburg after missing often from point-blank range early. He was upbeat after Friday’s win, saying his team is ready for prime time Saturday night.
“We had a lot of things to clean up after the Johnsburg game (Tuesday),” Grunloh said. “We gave up too many points, but there were a lot of possessions.
“We needed this game to clean things up and get ready for the big game tomorrow night.”
Warren 87, Mundelein 37: At the tourney in Mundelein, Warren (2-2) scored 15 straight points early to take an 18-3 lead and held Mundelein (0-4) scoreless for 6:45 of the first half in rolling to a dominating win.
The Blue Devils were 31-for-54 from the field and 6-for-11 from 3-point territory. Mundelein shot 13-for-53 but just 5-for-23 from 3.
Warren was led in scoring by Jayson Dorsey (13), Juwan Perry (13), Brandon Ellis (10) and Maurice Chambers (9).
Aaron Wolford (11 points), Nick Parmely (10) and Andrew Silva (7) led Mundelein.
“This one was a much different pace than our first few nights,” Warren coach Jon Jasnoch said. “A lot of our points in the first half came off our defense. Guys were really getting after it, getting hands on balls, getting deflections, and we were able to turn them into points at the other end. Our guys came out and played hard.”
Dorsey liked the rapid pace of the game and how his teammates responded to it.
“For the first few games, we’ve been together, but it wasn’t the same,” he said. “(On Friday), I feel it kind of clicked with all of us. The ball movement and the screening were really good.”
Mundelein coach Corey Knigge was not happy with the result.
“We’re not competing. We can use excuses all we want about playing five sophomores and just one guy coming back with experience, but those are excuses,” he said. “Warren outplayed us. They played harder and executed better. In every part of the game, they were better than us.”
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Uplift 62, LF Academy 60 (OT): At the tournament in Mundelein, Lake Forest Academy (1-3) got 26 points from Penn State football recruit Daniel Joseph and 17 from junior Chris Harris, who is from Antioch.
Carmel 61, Hoffman Estates 57: At the tourney at Grant, Carmel (1-3) got a win as Shareif Belser-Bailey had 17 points, C.J. Duff 15 and Sean Foster 10.
Maine South 60, Libertyville 41: Libertyville (2-1) will finish tourney play at Maine West against Math & Science from Chicago on Saturday.
Drew Peterson had 11 points against Maine South for the Wildcats, who were coming off Wednesday’s 80-54 thrashing of Maine West. In that game, Peterson, a sophomore, had 20 points, and Jabari Quigley had 19.
Champaign Central 48, North Chicago 42: The Warhawks (0-2) lost in the consolation bracket of an eight-team tournament at Springfield Lanphier and will play for seventh place against Brooks on Saturday.
Girls
Antioch 74, Niles North 64: Antioch (5-0, 4-0) remained perfect on the season and in the tourney at Niles North by beating the home team 74-64 on Friday.
The Sequoits will play Wheeling at 11 a.m. Saturday in the final round at Niles North.
On Friday, twins Amy Reiser (26 points, 14 rebounds) and Ashley Reiser (22 points, 6 assists) led Antioch. Erika Gallimore added nine points and had four steals. All three of those players are juniors.
Barrington 47, Grayslake Central 33: At a tourney in Buffalo Grove, Grayslake Central (2-3) has lost to Mother McAuley, Hersey and Barrington after beating Libertyville 45-43.
Phillyp Bonato is a freelance writer for the News-Sun. Bryan Bonato contributed.
BOYS BASKETBALL: FRIDAY’S RESULTS
Carmel 61, Hoffman Estates 57
Lake Zurich vs. North Lawndale, late
Waukegan vs. Grant, late
Uplift 62, Lake Forest Academy 60 (OT)
Warren 78, Mundelein 38
Grayslake Central vs. Niles North, late
Grayslake North 86, North Chicago JV 60
Lakes vs. Johnsburg, late
Richmond 58, Wauconda 47
Champaign Central 48, North Chicago 42
Maine South 60, Libertyville 41
Vernon Hills vs. Northridge Prep, late
Highland Park vs. Prospect, late
Deerfield vs. Tilden, late