Johnsburg knocks off Vernon Hills
Johnsburg's C.J. Fiedorowicz may not have been the leading scorer, but his defense and rebounding led the way.
He helped the visiting Skyhawks defeat host Vernon Hills 61-51 in the teams' Class 3A boys basketball regional semifinal Wednesday night.
Johnsburg (17-11) will play top-seeded North Chicago for the regional championship at Vernon Hills on Friday night (7:30 p.m.).
"We came out hard and played hard against a well-coached opponent," Johnsburg coach Luke Ravlin said. "It felt good to get a win and we feel like we have a lot to work on between now and Friday."
The 6-foot-7 Fiedorowicz (12 points) brought down 14 rebounds and also blocked 5 shots.
"We shot the ball pretty well and were patient running our offense," Fiedorowicz said "We were tied at half-time (23-23), and then we shut them down."
Ravlin tipped his hat to his junior center.
"C.J. is a great player and he keeps working hard," Ravlin said. "Every game he continues to get better and he finds ways to impact the game. Even on nights like tonight where he's playing zone, he tries to stop them."
Johnsburg built a 39-32 lead in the third quarter as Fiedorowicz clogged up the middle. Vernon Hills missed its first 7 shots.
The Skyhawks started the fourth with a 10-2 run to take a 49-34 lead and never looked back.
After shooting only 4 of 12 in the third quarter, Vernon Hills finished the night 18-of-69, including 3 of 23 from 3-point range.
Johnburg's Mike Dombrowski led all scorers with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and Mike Dixon added 14.
Riaz Hoveydai led the Cougars with 12 points while Brian Smith and DaVaris Daniels scored 11 points each.
"Johnsburg has a nice complement of players," Cougars coach Matt McCarty said. "They surround Fiedorowicz with four good perimeter players, and you have to pick your poison. All of their perimeter players can handle and pass the ball, and that gave us problems."
North Chicago 79, Richmond-Burton 58: In the first regional semifinal at Vernon Hills, Keith Ford had 19 points for the Warhawks.
North Chicago also got 14 from Michael Simpson, 13 from DeShawn Chambliss and 12 from Josh Wright.