Boys Basketball: Grayslake Central takes down rival Grayslake North
#3 Jordan Taylor, of Graylake Central battles #5 Mark Hall, of Grayslake North for control of the ball.
| Joe Shuman~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: March 2, 2012 11:37PM
Grayslake Central has not lost a home game all season, and the Rams (21-8) are coming home for the sectional.
On Friday, Central took care of rival Grayslake North 49-41 in the finals of the Class 3A regional at Antioch to assure themselves the best possible chance of winning a first-ever sectional title.
The first test will be Tuesday against North Chicago. The teams met in a Christmas-week tourney, and the Rams controlled play early, but faded late and lost 84-67.
However, Central’s in top form now, based on Friday’s second-half effort against North.
“What a great game for the fans, the kids and the coaches,” said Rams coach Brian Moe. “Every year, our goal during the season is to win the (Fox Valley Conference Fox) Division, and our goal in the postseason is to win a regional.”
Friday’s game was 22-21 at halftime, but Central went on a 12-4 run to start the second half and that 34-25 lead held up.
In the fourth quarter, North got within 44-1 with 2:44 to play on a driving layup by Mark Hall (team-high 11 points).
But North missed its last four shots of the game, had a turnover, and killed valuable seconds working for shots that did not fall.
Meanwhile, Grayslake Central was hitting 5-of-8 from the foul line to close out the game.
Jordan Taylor, a guard who will give North Chicago fits, had 19 points.
“My teammates were getting me into open spots, so I just kept looking for my shot,” Taylor said. “It was a great team effort tonight.”
Taylor’s also excited about being home for the sectional.
“We can’t wait! We love it at our house, so we’ll see what happens. We’ll celebrate tonight, but this is a long way from being over.”
Ram center Casey Boyle had eight points and 11 boards, and Danny Reed added eight points.
Danny Mateling and Zack Krupp each scored eight for the Knights (19-9). Standout A.J. Fish was 0-for-9 from the field and fouled out.
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