Boys Basketball: Vernon Hills’ threes sink Round Lake

Updated: December 2, 2011 9:23PM

Darren Hoveydai scored 25 points and Nate Rathod added 17 as Vernon Hills hit 12 three-pointers en route to a 69-41 win over Round Lake in the North Suburban Prairie opener for both teams.

Round Lake (1-4, 0-1) trimmed the lead to one early in the second quarter before Hoveydai hit back-to-back threes to start an 11-2 run that gave the visiting Cougars a 26-16 halftime lead.

Vernon Hills (4-2, 1-0) made eight of its first 10 shots in the third quarter to effectively put the game out of reach. Hoveydai nailed a three-pointer on the first possession, Rathod hit three threes in the quarter and forward Trenton Fulton added eight points on 4-of-4 shooting as lead grew as high as 22 by the end of the third.

“After I hit my first one, I felt good,” Hoveydai said. “After the second and third ones went down, I had a feeling it was going to be a good night. My coaches and teammates were telling me to shake off the misses and I did what I could to help the team.”

Round Lake, on the other hand, couldn’t get the lid of its basket all night. The Panthers missed 13 of 16 shots in the second quarter and star guard Juddon Carter was held to seven points on just 3-of-9 shooting from the field.

“Our game plan was to have two guys there whenever Juddon came off a screen and Stephen Curry did a phenomenal job on him,” Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. “But I’ve been doing this 19 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team shoot the ball like we did tonight.”

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