Warren tops North Chicago for NSC title
Championship T-shirts were passed out. Nets were cut down. Pictures were taken by family and friends.
After closing out a 66-56 victory over North Chicago in the North Suburban Conference title game on Wednesday night, the Warren boys basketball team didn’t let the moment pass.
It was time to celebrate. For a little bit, anyway.
“We’ll enjoy it,” Warren senior forward Jeremiah Jackson said. “This was definitely one of our goals at the beginning of the season…to win conference.”
And the Blue Devils did so convincingly, rolling through the Lake Division with a perfect 12-0 record before then beating the Prairie Division champion (North Chicago) to earn the overall league title.
It’s their ninth such title in the last 18 years and their second in four years.
But, for Warren, the No. 1 seed in the Barrington sectional and the fourth-ranked team in the state of Illinois, expectations are for even bigger celebrations down the road.
“Obviously, everyone wants to win a conference,” said Warren coach Chuck Ramsey, whose team moves to 25-3 on the season. “But there are two separate seasons. We’ll enjoy this, but now we’ve got to get ready for the (state) tournament.”
Ramsey says North Chicago provided just the kind of preparation his team needs to make an extended run into March.
The Warhawks (12-13) stayed in the game with a full-court pressure defense and an offense that relentlessly attacked the basket.
But Warren’s size advantage wore on North Chicago. The Blue Devils got a team-high 18 points apiece from both 6-foot-6 forward Darius Paul and the 6-foot-5 Jackson.
“Playing North Chicago is always good,” Ramsey said. “It’s great competition. They’re quick and they’re good shooters. They always play hard against us. They do some things that are different.”
Warren’s depth and balance was the same that it’s been all season.
Besides Paul and Jackson, JoVaughn Gaines scored in double-figures for the Blue Devils with 12 points. Five other players also scored for Warren, led by Jameris Smith with 6 points.
Smith and Gaines were also busy on the defensive end keeping tabs on North Chicago star Aaron Simpson. Simpson wound up with a game-high 19 points but didn’t quite have the impact he usually does.
He had just 7 points at halftime, 11 through the third quarter and scored his last 6 points in the final two minutes after Warren had all but wrapped up the victory.
“I guess we did a good job of keeping (Simpson) in check and not letting him take control of the game,” Ramsey said. “Jameris and JoVaughn did a pretty decent job of guarding him.”
Simpson was the only double-figure scorer for the Warhawks. Jaylen Linson had 9 points and Daryle Pearson added 7 points for North Chicago, which got off to a slow start.
The Warhawks were down 8-0 before scoring their first point with just four minutes remaining in the first quarter. They were also plagued by poor shooting, particularly at the foul line, hitting 3-of-10 free throws in the first half.
“We didn’t shoot well from the field or the free throw line and you can’t come in and play Warren with those types of percentages,” North Chicago coach Gerald Coleman said. “It just won’t work. It’s all focus and mental at this time of the year. Our kids have got to want it more than that.”