At the Saint Patrick’s regional, the Rams fell one game shy of their first IHSA regional championship since 2012, losing to the Saint Patrick Shamrocks 63-51. The Rams guarded the paint heavily, only allowing 4 points inside the paint. But the Shamrocks were semi-automatic from the 3-point line, scoring 11 of their 16 attempts from behind the arch.  However, to advance to these regional finals, the Rams defeated Chicago Northside 57-33 in the regional semi-finals.

After going winless in the month of January, the Grayslake Central boys basketball bounced back with a 6 game win streak to finish with a record above .500 and a 9-5 record in the conference. The late surge propelled the Rams to the 5th seed in the Grayslake Central IHSA 3A Sectionals.

“It’s been [an] up and down season. We went through a nice little winning streak in December, and then we hit a very deep losing streak, and ultimately, the boys just didn’t let it get them down, and they responded in a really positive manner.” said boys varsity basketball head coach Kosta Kougias.

A big contributor to the Rams success in the latter part of the season was the defense. In their final eight regular season games, the Rams only let up 45.25 points a game, far better than any other team in the conference in that span.

“The team has taken huge steps on the defensive end. Early in the season, we wanted to outscore the opposing team, now I think our team mantra is really trying to lock down the opposing team on defense,” says one of the senior team captains Coby Moe. “I think a big obstacle that we overcame, that some other teams in the state struggle with, is team chemistry.”

When asked how it feels to be a captain of the team, Moe stated, “I feel extremely honored to be captain of our team. It really means a lot to me because our captains were voted on by the team. It means a lot to have my teammates want me to represent them as their captain and leader.”