Brock Marino gets Lakes started and finishes things, too, in a regional semifinal. ‘That’s Brock for you.’

Lakes senior center Brock Marino’s full-throttle effort in the post flashed early and often Wednesday night.

But Marino’s most lasting impact during the Eagles’ Class 3A Lakes Regional semifinal against Vernon Hills came from the free-throw line.

“I’m a mediocre free-throw shooter, to be honest,” Marino said. “The pressure was on, though, and I knew I had to make them, and I did.”

Indeed, Marino scored the game’s final four points from the line as sixth-seeded Lakes edged the 11th-seeded Cougars 56-52 in Lake Villa.

Marino, who finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season, had scored 11 points in the first quarter to kick-start the Eagles. But he had the last word too.

“That’s Brock for you,” Lakes coach Chris Snyder said. “Even when teams are focused in on him, he’s there for us. He has a knack for coming up big, and he definitely did that tonight.”

Also looming large for the Eagles (21-7), who will play Northern Lake County Conference co-champion Grayslake Central in the regional final at 7 p.m. Friday, was their defensive effort against Vernon Hills’ Milan Raval.

The high-scoring senior guard was hounded throughout the game, with Lakes senior guard Tyson Dewey drawing the assignment for long stretches. Senior guard Tyler Anderson also contributed, but Dewey’s combination of length and quickness consistently made it difficult for Raval to get the ball.

Even when Raval did, Dewey and Co. closed on him quickly enough that his shots often appeared rushed. Raval was limited to eight points on 2-of-13 shooting for the Cougars (16-16), and he didn’t make his first field goal until the fourth quarter.

“The goal was to make him have a long night and keep him under 10 points,” said Dewey, who also scored Lakes’ first eight points of the fourth quarter. “It wasn’t too detailed, but just face-guard him so he’s not getting as many looks as he’d like and making things hard for him.”

Raval had become used to that level of attention throughout the season but almost always was more successful shaking free.

“They were all up in my grill, and it was almost impossible to get a shot off, so I was looking for teammates,” he said. “They did a great job on me.”

Another factor for Lakes was Cooper LoPriore’s scoring flurry off the bench. The senior guard recorded all of his 13 points in the second quarter, nearly matching Vernon Hills’ 16 points.

Three of LoPriore’s four baskets were 3-pointers, including one as time expired in the first half to stretch the Eagles’ lead to 35-29.

“I can usually tell whether my shot is there in warmups, and today warming up, I don’t think I missed,” LoPriore said. “When I made the first one (in the game), my confidence was definitely pretty high.”

So was the likelihood that Lakes’ fate would eventually rest with Marino. He’s conscious of the fact that he has teammates who can chip in more than capably. But there’s also a certain level of moxie that comes in handy at this time of year.

“It was ‘win or go home’ time, and I have to take things into my own hands sometimes,” Marino said. “My mindset was to stay calm and do what I’ve been doing all along, and we were able to make it happen.”

Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.