CARY – Monday night's game against Wilmot was a chance for Cary-Grove to get back on the winning track before playing more of its conference schedule.

Patrick Meyer made four 3s and Trevor Ruhland added 10 points and nine rebounds as the Trojans cruised to an 82-40 victory over Wilmot in the nonconference game.

"We just really hit on all cylinders tonight," coach Ralph Schuetzle said. "We did a lot of things well. Once we got into a rhythm tonight, everything clicked and it was good for us to have a game like this to get our confidence back up."

One thing that was evident from the opening tip was C-G's dominance on the boards, most notably on the offensive end. The Trojans finished the game with 17 offensive rebounds.

After allowing 21 points in the first quarter, Cary-Grove (8-6) held Wilmot to 19 points for the remainder of the game. The Trojans also used a 19-0 run to end the first half and begin the second, which helped them extend their four-point lead from the end of the first quarter.

"We forced them into taking much more difficult shots after the first," Ruhland said. "Once we extended our pressure a bit, it helped out a lot. It was a good adjustment by the coaches."

Wilmot made a 3 at the end of the first quarter to narrow Cary-Grove's lead to four, but only led for a few seconds at the beginning of the game on a made 3-pointer by Bobby Brenner, who finished with a game-high 16 points.

Another bright spot for the Trojans Monday night was senior Nick Barr, who led the team with 15 points. The team's leading scorer, Jason Gregoire, struggled a bit with his shot, but was picked up by a lot of teammates in the game.

"It's huge for us to have multiple guys who can score," Meyer said. "I'm a pretty straight up shooter and I got some open looks to knock down tonight. This was probably the best game for us as far as things clicking."

Meyer finished the game with 14 points, as 11 different Trojans recorded a point in the game.

Schuetzle knows that even though the outcome wasn't close, Monday night's game was an important one for his team, heading into a difficult stretch. The Trojans will play Lake Forest Academy, followed by FVC Valley opponents Jacobs and Crystal Lake South.

One focus Monday night and moving forward for the Trojans was to get Ruhland inside touches.

"We tried to look at get him the ball a lot tonight," Schuetzle said. "We know when Trevor is in double figures that usually gives us a good chance to win. With the games we have coming up, tonight was good proof that we're ready to face some really good teams coming up."

Game Ball

Trevor Ruhland, sr., C, Cary-Grove

Ruhland was a dominant force inside for the Trojans, scoring ten points and adding nine rebounds, five of which were offensive boards.

The Number

19 – total points scored by Wilmot after the first quarter (scored 21 points in the first).

The Big Play

The Trojans finished the first half on a 14-0 run and scored the first five points of the second half (19-0 run) to extend their lead to 28.

Cary-Grove 82, Wilmot 40

Wilmot 21 2 12 5 – 40

Cary-Grove 25 21 19 17 – 82

WILMOT (40)

VanKampen 0 0-1 0, Richter 0 0-0 0, Robson 0 0-0 0, Kothe 1 1-4 4, Muzzy 0 0-0 0, Bonogofsky 1 0-0 2, Scott 1 0-0 2, Janssen 3 1-1 8, Brenner 6 0-0 15, Wright 0 0-0 0, Frisby 0 2-2 2, Bruton 0 0-0 0, Glass 2 0-0 6, O’Connell 0 0-0 0, Collins 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 4-8 40.

CARY-GROVE (82)

Loch 0 0-0 0, Gregoire 2 4-6 8, Blair 4 0-0 8, Meyer 5 0-0 14, Ruhland 5 0-1 10, Barr 6 3-4 15, Coleman 3 1-2 8, Sutherland 0 2-2 2, Bear 3 0-0 6, Celske 0 0-0 0, Bianchi 0 0-0 0, Schmidt 1 3-4 5, Bazdor 1 0-0 2, Richardi 0 0-1 0, Clarke 0 2-2 2, Yu 0 0-0 0. Totals: 30 15-22 82.

3-point goals: Wilmot 8 (Brenner 4, Glass 2, Kothe Janssen), Cary-Grove 5 (Meyer 4, Coleman). Total fouls: Wilmot 16, Cary-Grove 12. Technical fouls: Janssen.