On Friday Feb. 7th, the Men’s Varsity Basketball Team (16-8, 7-4) beat the Waukegan Bulldogs (18-6,8-3) in a North Suburban Conference matchup 40-25. Senior Grant Mordini led the Scouts with 14 points, and Hudson Scroggins and Dominic Mordini each added nine. The Scouts put on a defensive masterclass Friday evening in the Competition Gym, holding Waukegan to only 25 points. This season, the Bulldogs score an average of 65.2 points per game, putting into perspective how outstanding the Scouts’ defense.
The Scouts led throughout the entirety of the game. Senior Grant Mordini and senior Luke Sawant connected for an alley-oop dunk that put the nail in the coffin. The Competition Gym was nearly full Friday night, packing family and friends in support of both teams. The Scouts’ slow tempo of basketball combined with a heavy home crowd seemed to throw Waukegan off of their usual “run-and-gun” style of offense.
With three conference games remaining, the Scouts still have a chance to be Conference Champions. However, a couple games between other conference opponents will have to go in their favor.
The Scouts (17-8, 7-4) also took on the Rolling Meadows Mustangs (22-4, 9-0) on Saturday, coming out victorious 48-36. These two teams had met in the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic earlier in the season, where Rolling Meadows won 64-47. The Scouts did not play their best basketball that night, and every shot for the Mustangs seemed to fall. The Scouts were very excited for this rematch against a very sharp Rolling Meadows squad, playing a great 32 minutes of basketball.
Scroggins led the Scouts with 15 points, and junior Dominic Mordini added nine of his own. Marquette commit Ian Militic has been leading the way for Rolling Meadows and was the main problem for the Scouts in their first matchup. Militic has been giving teams issues all year, but not on Saturday. The Scouts made other players score, shutting down Militic from taking over the game. Once again, the Scouts defense shined on Saturday forcing many steals and turnovers.
The Scouts also shot the ball very well Saturday afternoon. Couple that with their consistently strong defense and they are a very tough team to beat.
“If you don’t play defense as hard as you can on this team you don’t play,” said senior Finn Graf.
The Scouts have really found their groove in the last week or so, picking up three wins against very good basketball teams: Waukegan, Warren Township, and Rolling Meadows.
“We are really starting to play as a unit,” said senior Luke Sawant.
The Scouts return tonight for the second meeting against Libertyville. The Scouts won an instant classic in the last matchup 39-33. With the history between the two teams, we’re bound to have another nail-biting game.
