It's a little over 20 miles from Zion to Mundelein, and with the snowy weather as bad as it was on Tuesday night, not many Zion-Benton boys basketball fans were able to make the trip west for the North Suburban Conference Lake Division clash with the host Mustangs.
Those who did brave the elements were treated to an entertaining fast-paced contest, which was won by the Zee-Bees 97-67.
There were plenty of highlights on the offensive end by both teams, and even a little bit of defense played in the third quarter by Zion (8-1 overall, 3-1 in the NSC Lake).
Among those highlights were:
• The Zee-Bees had six players -- Lenzelle Smith (20 points), Ronald Steward (18 points), Markus Yarbrough (15 points), Paul Williams (14 points), Quintrell Love (11 points) and Owen Worthington (10 points) -- in double figures, but it was a pair of amazing dunks by Smith in early in the fourth quarter which drew the raves of fans on both sides of the court.
"It was fun to play a game as fast as this one," said Smith. "Mundelein like to push the ball, and we don't mind playing that way once in a while too."
• Mundelein junior guard Ben Brust poured in a game-high 37 points -- including 15 points in the third quarter to keep the Mustangs (4-5, 1-2) within striking distance at the break 43-33.
• Solid defense was played by Smith, who took a turn at guarding Brust in the third quarter and prevented him from posting big numbers as he did the first half.
The increased defensive effort helped Zion outscore the Mustangs 28-16 in the period to put the game out of reach.
"Ben is a great player and one of my best friends," said Smith. "We wanted to keep him from spotting up and shooting from the outside, so we used a lot of help defense in the second half to make him put the ball on the floor.
"He can score that way too, but we sure didn't want to leave him open shooting from the outside."
Zion's defensive pressure forced Mundelein into six third-quarter turnovers, which the Zee-Bees quickly turned into points on the other end.
Things didn't get better for the Mustangs early in the fourth quarter, as Smith slammed home a pair of dunks after steals to the delight of the fans still trying to warm up from the recent bout with Mother Nature.
"We have some big games coming up at Proviso West (holiday tournament)," said Smith. "We will find out how we compare to some of the best teams in the state. It's going to be fun."
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