Scouts sting Bees with 11 3-point buckets

Lake Forest's Matt Vogrich tries to stop Zion's Lenzelle Smith from driving to the basket during boys basketball action at Zion.
(Josh Peckler/Special to the News-Sun)

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ZION -- Matt Vogrich loves playing against Zion-Benton High's boys basketball team.

The Lake Forest senior guard usually performs at his best during clashes against the Zee-Bees, and Wednesday night in Zion was no different.

Vogrich poured in 17 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter to help the Scouts hold off the Bees 73-62 in a key North Suburban Conference Lake Division battle.

Last season, the Michigan-bound guard tossed in 30 points in a January tilt to lead Lake Forest past a then unbeaten Zion squad 64-62.

It was an amazing individual performance, but on Wednesday, he had plenty of help from his hot-shooting teammates.

"Any time we play a great team like Zion or Warren, I want to do well," said Vogrich. "Those games just seem to bring out the best in me."

The contest against Zion (10-4 overall, 3-2 in the NSC Lake) also brought out the best in Vogrich's teammates -- including senior guard point guard Kevin Berardini, who tossed in a trio of 3-pointers as the Scouts (10-3, 4-1) were jumping out to a 21-5 lead in the first five minutes of the game.

The Zee-Bees eventually cut the lead to 39-30 at halftime.

"We knew Zion was going to make a run," said Vogrich. "We kept our poise and made some baskets down the stretch."

Zion -- led by senior guard Ronald Steward (23 points) and senior center Markus Yarbrough (13 points, 9 rebounds) -- continued to claw away at Lake Forest's lead until finally tying the contest at 57-57 with 5:21 left in the game.

That's when Vogrich took over, scoring 11 straight points for his team in helping the Scouts regain control of the game at 65-57 with just under three minutes remaining. The Zee-Bees never threatened again.

"I guess we used a lot of energy to get back in the game, but I think it was just good shooting by Lake Forest," said Zion coach Don Kloth . "They made a lot of big baskets, and it wasn't because our defense was poor -- they hit some shots with hands in their faces."

For the game, Lake Forest made good on 11 of 23 3-point shots -- led by Vogrich's 5-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.

While the Scouts were sizzling, Zion struggled from the outside -- making just 5 of 19 3-point attempts.

"I know Zion is an athletic team, but we have some pretty good athletes on our team too," said Vogrich. "We have a lot of football players like Jon (Sobinsky) and Tom (Rees) and they can get after people.

Lake Forest coach Phil LaScala was pleased his squad was able to hold its own against the Bees on the boards.

"Zion is probably the best rebounding team in the state," he said. "I put on our board (in the locker room) 'who was going to rebound?' And we had some guys step up and get the job done."

Vogrich finished with 8 rebounds, while Mitch Hopfinger contributed 8 boards to go with his 12 points. LAKE FOREST 73, ZION-BENTON 62