Vogrich reaches point milestone in huge league win

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By the time Matt Vogrich's 3-point shot snapped the cords with 6:28 to go in the game, the Lake Forest Scouts were ahead of the host Stevenson Patriots 40-28.

Still, the Scouts' bench rose and cheered as one, because those three points made Vogrich the all-time-leading scorer in school history.

The trey from the corner gave Vogrich 19 for the night as Lake Forest registered a 54-35 victory, assuring the Scouts of at least a share of the North Suburban Lake crown. The team is now 9-1 in the conference, 17-3 overall.

Vogrich felled the mark set from 1986-88 by Rob Pelinka , who amassed 1,327 points from his guard spot before moving on to the University of Michigan where he played with the Fab Four. Vogrich, who will also play hoops for the Wolverines, now has 1,329 points and counting.

"This ranks right up there," said Vogrich about this individual accomplishment, adding, "as long as the team keeps winning."

Vogrich said that becoming the all-time scoring leader for Lake Forest was a preseason goal. "As far as individual stuff goes, he said, "I'd really like to make first-team all-state too."

The game was still somewhat in doubt entering the fourth quarter, with Lake Forest leading 34-26.

But Stevenson could not take care of the ball, caving to the Scouts' high-pressure half-court defense with two turnovers right out of the gate. The early moments of the final period were indicative of how the rest of the game would go as Lake forest outscored Stevenson 20-9 down the stretch.

"They did a great job on Matt in the first quarter," said Scouts coach Phil LaScala , referring to the two-point period by his star. "But when Mitch (Hopfinger) began scoring in the second quarter, they had to start paying attention to him, and that loosened things up for Matt."

Hopfinger, the steady sidekick to Vogrich all year long, ended with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. Kevin Berardini added 12, including three treys.

Stevenson, which only got off 35 shots all game, was led in scoring by Jeff Arenson's 13. Nate Johnson was also in double figures with 11.

Stevenson falls to 11-9 on the year and 4-5 in the conference.

Lake Forest has conference games remaining against Lake Zurich and Zion-Benton.

LAKE FOREST 54, STEVENSON 35