Boys basketball: Woodstock North on the ‘Mark’ with win over Woodstock

WOODSTOCK – Woodstock North guard Trevor Mark drove the right side and banked in a 10-foot shot with 15 seconds remaining, and Thunder fans went wild.

In a back-and-forth contest – mainly between Mark and Woodstock forward Spencer Cullum in the final minutes – host North had a 59-58 lead, although the Blue Streaks had one last shot.

After Woodstock’s timeout, Cullum predictably got the ball and the last shot, but it did not fall, and the Thunder celebrated a Kishwaukee River Conference victory Friday night.

“I was just getting it off the dribble on the right side and it was going in,” said Mark, who scored a career-high 25 points. “It didn’t hit me until now. I was just going out there and playing my game. My coaches gave me so much confidence.”

Mark started 1 of 9 in the first quarter, but hit 10 of 16 the rest of the way with three 3-pointers.

“He was aggressive. He’s dripping in sweat, he was all over the place, defensively, offensively. He was great,” Thunder coach Josh Jandron said. “You live with some shots that he takes because he’s giving so much effort. He’s giving it his all.

“We saw it earlier in the year and I’ve been trying to get it out of him these last few games. Tonight was just his night. He relished in this.”

Cullum finished with 26 points and scored Woodstock’s last seven points. Mark had North’s last nine points.

Cullum, a 6-foot-6 senior, was 10 of 16 in the second half and scored inside for a 58-57 lead with 32 seconds remaining.

“I just tried to turn it on [in the second half],” Cullum said. “I needed to get some big buckets, and we needed to cut their lead and take our own. It was awesome. I’ve known [Mark] my whole life. It was cool to see me and him trading big buckets back and forth.”

Woodstock (11-5, 3-1 KRC) called its final timeout with five seconds remaining and set up its last play.

Cullum caught the ball on the opposite side of the court and drove into the lane, but missed. The Streaks’ Keaton Perkins grabbed a rebound but was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer.

“We drew up a play, we knew they were going to double Spencer with two guys, and I wanted to throw that over the top lob. It’s hard to guard,” Streaks coach Ryan Starnes said. “He caught the ball in a great spot there on the wing. We had Max [Beard] coming to the top of the key. I told Spencer, ‘It’s been your night, just go.’ He did. The kid [Mark] played pretty good defense on it.

“The way [Cullum] was going, it was get him the ball and see if he can do it. He had that look in his eyes. It’s the best game I’ve seen him play in the year-and-a-half I’ve been here.”

North (7-9, 3-1) is the two-time defending KRC champion and kept from falling two games behind Woodstock, which was alone in first place before Friday’s game.

The Thunder’s Logan Schwoch scored 12 points, Tyler Ward added 11 with eight rebounds and Cade Blaksley grabbed 11 rebounds.

Sam Chapman scored 13 for the Streaks and hit three 3s.

Mark, who is 5-11, was on Cullum for the last play after a switch.

“I took the timeout, and I said it was going to go to Spencer,” Jandron said. “We switched off, Trevor had him on the outside. Why wouldn’t it go to [Cullum]? The shots he was making, love the kid.”