Jackson, Warren stop Vernon Hills
Fortunately for the mother of Vernon Hills senior guard Chris Argianas, she caught the mini plastic basketball that her son tossed to her during starting lineup introductions.
Otherwise, Warren’s jumpin’ Jeremiah Jackson might have plucked that basketball, too.
Argianas, the football quarterback, ran halfway up the bleachers and made a perfect pass to Mom, who made a two-handed grab.
“I promised her before the game I’d do it,” Argianas said.
With all due respect to Notre Dame-bound wide receiver DaVaris Daniels of Vernon Hills, the only person with softer hands in the gym on Senior Night might have been Jackson.
His 17 rebounds and 11 points helped pace Warren to a 44-30 win Saturday night in the “other” North Suburban Conference championship game, which was actually a conference crossover.
NSC Lake Division champ Warren, which improved to 24-3 with its 11th win in a row, will host North Chicago in the actual NSC title game Wednesday night. Vernon Hills (16-9) and North Chicago tied for first in the NSC Prairie, but North Chicago won a tiebreaker to represent the division in the conference championship game.
“We approached this one like we approach every other game,” Jackson said.
Not Vernon Hills.
“Before the game, we said, ‘This is our championship night,’ ” Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. “(Warren’s) length ended up causing us some problems on the offensive glass. When they get rebounds, they don’t even have to come down with them. They just tip it in over our guys.”
Warren’s 6-foot-6 Darius Paul scored a game-high 13 points and snatched 9 rebounds. He and the 6-5 Jackson were the Blue Devils’ only double-digit scorers. Two other starters, 6-8 Nathan Boothe and 6-3 JoVaughn Gaines, had 6 points apiece for the visitors, who led most of the night by a single-digit margin.
“Very athletic,” Argianas said. “Definitely the most athletic team we’ve faced.
“They definitely had a height advantage also,” Argianas added, smiling. “Their starting lineup probably had 50 inches on us combined.”
Jackson tipped in a teammate’s missed shot at the halftime buzzer to put Warren up 18-13. It was his 12th rebound.
Jackson was coming off a 13-rebound effort against Stevenson the previous night.
“He’s persistent,” Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said of the senior. “He tries to rebound every ball. Most kids go for only balls that they’re sure they’re going to get. He goes and gets the ball with both hands. You don’t see him trying to tip the ball to himself. And contact does not bother him.”
It’s simple, Jackson will tell you.
“All I do is just box out and go for the rebound,” Jackson said. “That’s what I’m supposed to do. I’m a big man.”
Daniels scored 11 points, including a dunk, and was Vernon Hills’ only double-digit scorer. Stephen Curry added 9 points on a pair of 3-pointers and three-point play.
It was just the second home loss in 10 games for Vernon Hills.
“It was really a great opportunity for us to see how we compare and compete with the best,” said the sharpshooting Argianas, who was held without a 3-pointer. “They’re a (Class) 4A team so we know we won’t be playing a team like that in the (Class 3A) playoffs.”
Warren, which is ranked third in The Associated Press poll in Class 4A, shot 19 of 23 from the foul line and committed only 7 turnovers.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a team ranked as high as they are come into this gym,” McCarty said. “I told our guys this is probably the best team that’s ever come into our gym since the school has been open.”