Senior guards Deveauntay McNeal and Hakim Williams have Round Lake standing alone at the top of the Northern Lake County Conference.
What a difference three years makes.
The Panthers, who didn’t win a game in 2017-18, earned a share of the conference title with Wauconda last season and now have it all to themselves.
McNeal and Williams each had a double-double Tuesday night as Round Lake rolled to a 66-50 conference victory against visiting Grayslake Central at Magee Middle School.
More Top Picks Best Vertical Mice For Wrist Pain
Round Lake coach Jay Iden said winning the conference title means a lot to the seniors who were freshmen during the 2017-18 season.
“For a group where we said we were going to do this three years ago, that means a lot,” Iden said. “It’s something they’re going to remember for the rest of their lives.”
McNeal had a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds. Williams, who had 18 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, said the players put their trust in the rebuild.
“Last year we were the first team to win conference in about 35 years,” Williams said. “It means a lot to us, especially almost not having a season.”
Round Lake (6-3, 6-1) raced out to a 13-2 lead against the Rams (3-3, 2-3) with aggressive perimeter defense, relying on double-teams and traps to force errant passes that led to fast-break points.
Iden said the Panthers implemented a new defensive scheme for Tuesday’s game, and he was pleased with the result.
“We said we were going to go all out defensively the last four days of practice and focus purely on that,” Iden said. “They run a great offense. It’s really tricky. Our guys really cued in to be able to shut them down like that.”
After a slow start, Grayslake Central began chipping away at Round Lake’s lead. A basket by Nathan Ulrichs brought the Rams within four points early in the third quarter.
That was the closest Grayslake Central got, as Round Lake’s Isaiah Nixon and McNeal responded with baskets to extend the lead.
“I was really proud of the way we responded,” Grayslake Central coach Brian Centella said. “We fought back, and I thought we closed the half really well. Round Lake played well tonight — hats off to them. They’re a really good offensive rebounding team, and I thought that really hurt us tonight.”
Every time the Rams went on a mini-run, Round Lake came right back. Nixon, a senior guard, scored seven straight points late in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Nixon finished with 11 points and two steals, only coming out of the game for a few minutes. Nick Pierre added eight points for Round Lake.
“He’s got what we call the guts of a burglar,” Iden said. “He takes those little calculated gambles, and when he does it, he goes hard. It was very evident that he was coming out of this game knowing he gave 100%.”
Ulrichs and Dennis Estepp led Grayslake Central with 12 points each. Junior Brendan Whalen had nine points and eight rebounds.
Iden said the coronavirus pandemic has helped his team realize what’s most important. It’s a tight-knit group that will enjoy its final game together Thursday at Lakes.
“We’re just enjoying this right now,” Iden said. “We’ll always be a family. These are kids that I know that I’m going to be talking about for the rest of my life.”
Nick Frazier is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.