A winless record isn’t stopping Woodstock North’s boys basketball team from maintaining a winning attitude.

As North senior guard Zaiden Vess talked after the Thunder’s 69-54 loss to host Johnsburg on Monday night about staying positive, despite the team’s eighth loss in as many games this season, coach Tim Paddock extended a closed fist and punched Vess’ fist.

North (0-8, 0-3 Kishwaukee River Conference) trailed 20-8 after one quarter but got to within 29-27 at halftime. The Thunder still was within two, 34-32, with two minutes gone in the third quarter after senior AJ Cohen hit a 16-foot jumper.

Johnsburg (5-4, 3-0) followed with a 13-0 run, fueled by Josh Kaunas’ 10 points, which included back-to-back 3-pointers en route to the junior’s career-high 29 points. Vess’ back-to-back 3s in the fourth cut the gap to 57-44, but the Thunder’s last comeback ended there.

That effort, against a Skyhawks team that had won its past four games, should help the Thunder notch a win soon.

“It’s what Coach has [instilled],” Vess said. “It’s the never-lose mentality. You got to have that mindset. After he said it, it’s just been imprinted in my head. You got to play until the whistle blows and play as hard as you can. It’s senior year. I don’t want to look back after the season’s over and wish I could go back and fix something.”

Vess finished with a career-high 24 points, knocking down six 3-pointers in 11 attempts. He shot 8 of 16 from the floor overall, in addition to going 2 of 2 from the free-throw line.

It was the first 20-point game for the 6-foot-1 Vess, who played mainly coming off the bench last season.

“He’s going to have a few more of them coming up,” Paddock said. “I was proud of him tonight. He kept with it. He’s starting to play really well without the basketball. The last couple of games, he’s played really well. He’s being hard to guard. They’re really trying to shut him down.”

Vess just wants to get better and wants his team to stick with it.

“Just 1% better every day,” Vess said. “It’s like what Coach says. We’re a team. You got to win as a team. You got to play as a team. It’s a team sport.”

Reinforcements: Paddock said Easton Klesch, a 5-10 sophomore guard who hasn’t played this season for North because of an injury, got released Monday and was expected to start practicing this week.

Paddock recently promoted 6-foot sophomore Ben Hendershot. Hendershot and fellow sophomore Curtis Czeslawski started Monday night against Johnsburg. Hendershot had six points (two 3-pointers), six rebounds and three steals.

“We’re getting better every day,” Paddock said.

North opens Marengo’s E.C. Nichols Tournament Saturday with a 12:30 p.m. tipoff against Fenton.

Radmer expected to be out until January: Richmond-Burton coach Rich Petska said junior point guard Gavin Radmer will be out 4-6 weeks after injuring his right elbow and wrist against Grant on Dec. 6.

Radmer, who had an MRI on his wrist last week, was injured when he crashed to the court after a drive to the basket late in the third quarter and used his wrist to brace his fall.

Radmer had opened the season with games of 20 and 25 points against Round Lake and Genoa-Kingston, respectively. He had 17 points against Grant, despite not returning after his injury.

As a sophomore last season, Radmer averaged 16.5 points, 2.5 assists and 2.6 steals a game. He was named All-KRC, as the Rockets finished 22-10.

“You just don’t replace an all-conference player that is averaging 20-plus [points] a game,” Petska said. “The reality is, in a school our size, with our numbers, you don’t have another Gavin. He is our point guard, the engine of our offense, but we are adapting. We have other players stepping up, and we are figuring out who we are without him.”

R-B lost its first game without Radmer, 71-46 at Johnsburg on Dec. 9, but responded with back-to-back wins against Harvard (68-44) and Antioch (49-43). Luke Robinson scored 28 points against Harvard and 21 against Antioch.

“I am really proud of how our kids have responded to this adversity and the kids that are stepping up,” Petska said. “I’m really proud of [Radmer] too for staying positive. He has reassured me that he is going to be healed up early. He is that type of kid. We are going to be OK.”

The Rockets open Marengo’s E.C. Nichols Tournament at 11 a.m. Saturday against Marian Central.

Who’s hot?: Cary-Grove takes a seven-game winning streak into its 9 a.m. game Saturday against Mundelein on Day 1 of the Jacobs Hinkle Holiday Classic.

The Trojans (8-1) stand alone in first place in the Fox Valley Conference at 4-0.

Crystal Lake South’s 64-39 win over host Marian Central on Tuesday night was the Gators’ fourth in their past five games, after a 1-4 start. South, which went 16-2 in the FVC last season in earning a share of first place with McHenry, is 2-2 in the conference.

Jacobs is 7-2 but only 2-2 in its past four games with FVC losses to Cary-Grove and Prairie Ridge. The Golden Eagles open their own Hinkle tournament with a 4:30 p.m. tipoff Saturday against Larkin.

Johnsburg responded to going 0-4 in its own Thanksgiving tournament by winning five in a row. The Skyhawks (5-4) play Naperville North at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Jacobs.

Led by senior forward Adam Anwar, who’s averaging 21.9 points a game, McHenry (7-2) has won four in a row. Anwar has scored 20 points in all but two games.

Woodstock suffered its first loss of the season Monday night, 38-35, to host Belvidere North. The Blue Streaks (7-1, 2-0 KRC) host North Boone in a nonconference game Friday night.