There may have been times this season when Lake Zurich sophomore Kain Kretschmar felt like he wasn’t quite ready for prime time.
But the way Kretschmar sprinted to the finish line in his first varsity season, it became clear the 6-foot-3 guard has what it takes to make an impact for the Bears.
“Everything was new to me, and that was difficult at times,” Kretschmar said. “But for next season now, I know what I am capable of and what I have to do, and I know my limitations.”
Those limitations were difficult to spot as Lake Zurich played in the Class 4A Elgin Sectional semifinals on Wednesday. Kretschmar scored a team-high 19 points, nearly half of the third-seeded Bears’ total, during their 53-39 loss to second-seeded Palatine.
Kretschmar did his best to keep Lake Zurich (22-9) in the game against the Pirates (26-8), who advance to play fourth-seeded Stevenson (23-8) on Friday. His 11 points in the first half helped the Bears build a 24-18 halftime lead, but Palatine outscored them 24-8 in the third quarter to take control.
Palatine’s aggressive 3-2 zone was effective collapsing onto junior center Anton Strelnikov in the paint, making it difficult for him to get many clean looks in the half-court offense. Strelnikov finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
That opened up the perimeter for Kretschmar, however, and he took advantage by hitting three 3-pointers.
“It was a huge thing for me,” Kretschmar said. “I haven’t really had a moment like that in a long time. Being in control of the game, that’s how I want to play and like to play. When I’m hot, I’m hot.”
People in Lake Zurich’s program have seen Kretschmar, who averaged 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds this season, heat up many times.
“There are some games where I’m not always hitting or I’m getting doubled, so it’s good to have a consistent shooter that can hit shots, like he did tonight,” Strelnikov said. “He kept us in the game and hit some tough shots when some of our other guys weren’t hitting.”
Kretschmar, whose mother, Melanee, was a star for Addison Trail and was inducted into the DePaul Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010 after scoring 1,552 points, spends a lot of time in the gym to make sure he hits.
“Working in the gym when no one watches, that gets me to a point where I know I can make the shots that I take,” he said. “It’s the confidence that I have, which I need to have moving forward. That’s the biggest thing to me.”
Lake Zurich coach Terry Coughlin calls his players’ extra gym time the “unseen hours,” and he knows Kretschmar will log a lot of them going forward.
“If there’s a gym, he’ll find it,” Coughlin said. “When he plays with confidence, he’s really good. As a sophomore, we were asking him to amp up his consistency night in and night out, and he’s capable of that. Him having a great game today was not shocking to us.”
When it comes to finding ways to improve, Kretschmar points to defense.
“I let some guy burn me a couple of times (Wednesday), so looking forward, that’s something I have to work on, moving my feet,” he said. “Just getting better and better and better, so this doesn’t happen in the coming years when I become the leader of this team.”
There’s little doubt Kretschmar will take on that role in the future, which looks promising for the Bears with Strelnikov among other returning rotation players.
“As a sophomore, I felt it was difficult to be the leader because there were seniors ahead of me,” Kretschmar said. “But the next two years, I think it’ll be really fun for me and for the team.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
