LF_122718

28 | December 27, 2018 | The lake forest leader SPORTS
LakeForestLeader.com
Boys Basketball
Scouts cannot hold down highly ranked Benet Academy
David Jaffe
Freelance Reporter
Lake Forest took on
Benet Academy, one of the
stronger teams in the state,
Friday, Dec. 21, in Lake
Forest.
The visiting Redwings
showed why they are a
tough team to match up
against as they scored
quickly and in a variety of
ways, finding much success
scoring in transition,
getting the ball inside and
getting to the free-throw
line.
Those things became
too much for the Scouts
(4-6) to handle as they fell
to Benet 62-44.
The Redwings scored 30
points in the paint.
“They could shoot the
ball really well and had
an inside presence,” Lake
Forest coach Phil LaScala
said. “They were able to
score a lot in transition.
We fell asleep a few times
getting back and they were
able to knock down some
transition threes right out
of the gate.
“We gave up 23 in the
first quarter. That’s not
good. We haven’t been defending
like that in most
of our games. But they’re
a very explosive offensive
team.”
Early in the third quarter,
the Scouts only trailed
34-27, but Benet went on
an 11-4 run increasing its
advantage to 45-31 with
Charlie Dollard scoring
six points and Will Engels
scoring five.
The Scouts never got to
within single digits after
that and an 11-2 Benet run
put them in front 60-40.
Benet had four players
score in double figures.
The Redwings were efficient
in the paint, but
started the game burying
three treys en route to an
11-3 lead.
A three by Tommy Hanson
and a layup by Stephen
Young put Lake Forest
right back in it.
Benet got the lead back
up to 27-17 in the second,
but the Scouts hung
in there, getting as close
as 29-23 with four points
from Jake Fisher and another
trey by Hanson.
Lake Forest had chances
to get closer but couldn’t
do it, and Benet made
them pay, going back up
34-24 at the half.
“We had a few chances
to make it closer in the first
half,” LaScala said. “We
missed some free throws
and we started getting in a
little foul trouble. After that
we went through a stretch
where we couldn’t buy a
bucket and went cold.
“They were able to take
advantage of that, getting
inside and getting out in
transition. Our margin of
error was small. We played
really hard to keep ourselves
in it in the first half
but you can’t give a team
like that opportunities.”
Lake Forest stayed in
the game thanks to Fisher,
who scored 13 of his 17
points in the first half, including
nine in the second
quarter.
He made some tough
shots and carried the offense
when the Scouts
were struggling to score.
“Jake did an incredible
job for us in the first half,”
LaScala said. “He made
some difficult shots and he
kept staying aggressive. If
he continues to play like
that, we’re going to be really
good.”
The Scouts will compete
in York’s Jack Tosh holiday
tournament and they
know their defense will
Charlie Dollard (right) gets control of the ball at the opening of the game against Benet
Academy Friday, Dec. 21, in Lake Forest. Photos by David Kraus/22nd Century Media
have to get better.
“We need to be much
better at the defensive
end,” LaScala said. “And
we need to use our defense
to create some opportunities
for ourselves on offense.
That’s something
we were unable to do successfully
today.”
Crawford Bolton added
9 points while Hanson had
6 and Michael Pasquella
had 5.
Right: Michael O’Connor
(right) brings the ball
down the court through
heavy defense.
high school highlights
The rest of the week in high school sports
Boys Basketball
Deerfield 37, Lake Forest
25
Crawford Bolton and
Jack Benderart scored six
points each for the Scouts
in the nonconference loss
Dec. 15.
Kiski 65, Lake Forest
Academy 50
Dane Quest scored 15
points and Bellamy Marcus
had 13 in the Caxys’
loss in the final game of
the Peddle School Invitational
Dec. 9.
Girls Basketball
Lake Forest 65, Waukegan
39
Grace Tirmazlis finished
with 21 points and eight rebounds
to lead the Scouts
(9-4) to the nonconference
win Dec. 15
Halle Douglass (19
points, 8 rebounds), Finola
Summerville (12 points, 7
rebounds) and Ellie Pearson
(7 rebounds) contributed
for Lake Forest.
Lake Forest 43, St. Viator
41
Halle Douglass poured
in 22 points and added
four blocked shots to lead
the Scouts to victory Dec.
13.
Grace Tirzmalis scored
10 points with eight rebounds,
while teammate
Molly Fisher added six
points and three rebounds
for Lake Forest.
Glenbrook North 40, Lake
Forest Academy 30
Rama Keita became a
member of the 1,000-point
club by scoring 13 points
in the host Caxys nonconference
loss Dec. 11.
The home crowd
mobbed Keita after her final
basket gave her 1,001
career points. The Spartans
called a timeout to allow
the home crowd to recognize
the achievement.
Girls Hockey
Warren 8, Lake Forest
Academy 7
Julia Sinopie notched a
hat trick for the Caxys, but
despite the team’s seasonhigh
goal total, it was not
enough in the Dec. 10 loss.
Lena Ansari scored
twice, and Annie Gifford
and Serena Kim added a
goal apiece for LFA.
This Week In...
Scouts’ VARSITY
ATHLETICS
BOYS BASKETBALL
■Dec. ■ 27-29 - at York High
School, TBD
GIRLS BASKETBALL
■Dec. ■ 27-29 - at Warren
High School, 3 p.m.
WRESTLING
■Dec. ■ 27 - hosts Lake
Forest quad, 10 a.m.
■Dec. ■ 28 - at Lakes
Community High School,
8:30 a.m.