The Lake Forest Scouts pulled off an impressive win last Tuesday, February 28th against Carmel Catholic in the Sectional Semi-Final with a score of 40-28. It was a closely contested game in the beginning, with both teams trading off baskets each possession and playing tight defense. However, the  Scouts managed to pull away in the second quarter, thanks to their relentless defense that would trap the opposing team with their 1-3-1 zone. With the strict defensive pressure and clutch shooting on the offensive side of the ball, the Scouts had momentum heading into the second half of the game. 

The Scouts relied on a different player than usual, with Bolurin Taiwo scoring 12 points for the Scouts and Asa Thomas putting up 11 points along with 6 rebounds. With Taiwo and Thomas was Efe Yardimici who had 9 points, all of which contributed to the victory against Carmel Catholic. The Scouts were able to control the tempo of the game and were making several key plays on both ends of the court. On the defensive end, the Scouts’ team effort was outstanding, as they held Carmel to just  28 points in four quarters of play and forced several turnovers. Overall, it was an impressive performance by the Scouts, who would build off this victory as they play their next game on Friday, March 3rd against the Rams of Grayslake Central.

After the impressive win on Tuesday February 28th against Carmel Catholic, the Scouts got ready to take on Grayslake Central, the host of the sectionals. The Grayslake Central Rams definitely had a home court advantage and had a lot of fans packed into small sections in the gym. They were set as the hosts of the semi-sectionals and the sectional finals before the season started. The Scouts and Rams started out by trading baskets in the first quarter and finishing it tied at 9-9. The Rams outscored the Scouts 13-10 in the second quarter and held a 3 point lead going into halftime, up 22-19. 

The Scouts came out hot in the third quarter and were able to take the lead, 30-29. It looked like all the momentum was turning and starting to favor the Scouts. They were hitting all of their shots, got all the rebounds, got steals, and got some calls to help them as well. It all changed when senior guard Asa Thomas got a technical foul for arguing with the referee. The foul was called right after the Rams hit a 3 to take the lead 32-30. They hit both free throws and then made a layup with the possession after; it was a 7-0 run that crushed all momentum. The Rams never gave up the lead after that point. The closest the Scouts got was within 1 point multiple times in the last 2 minutes of the game, but they had to foul to keep the game going. Asa Thomas had a pretty good look in the corner to tie the game with about 5 seconds remaining but could not hit the shot. It looked like Thomas was hit in the arm as he released the shot, but the refs did not call it and let them play. 

The Scouts season came to a heartbreaking end in Grayslake. When asked about Friday’s loss, junior Tommie Aberle said, “I thought we fought through a lot of adversity throughout the year; with all the injuries and sickness we had. Really special group of guys.“ 

The Scouts had a really good season, turning it around after the Christmas break tournament. Coming out of that tournament, the Scouts were only 6-7, but they then went 17-4 through their final 21 games of the season. 

“It was a great season overall, I made a lot of memories with them. We were under .500 coming out of this Christmas tournament, and we ended up being 23-10. So it’s a pretty impressive season for us. I’m sad that it’s over but I’m happy that it happened,” said senior Asa Thomas. Thomas is right, it was an impressive season to say the least.