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Ellis, Diehl help Warren revert to winning

Barak Diehl will just save it for the games.

With a 6-of-6 effort from the foul line against Deerfield - including a pair to clinch the final outcome - the Warren senior guard is 10 of 10 on the season through three games.

"He can't do that in practice," teammate Branden Ellis said, smiling.

"As long as they go in," Diehl said.

Ellis' season-high 22 points and Diehl's 13 led the Blue Devils to a 53-48 win over the Warriors on third-day action of the Mundelein Thanksgiving tournament on Wednesday night. It was a nice reversal of course for Warren (2-1), which lost to Mundelein by 18 points on Tuesday.

"I thought we bounced back pretty well," Ellis said. "(Against Mundelein), some of us went into the game like, 'We've beaten Mundelein like nine times throughout the years.' They jumped out on us, applied pressure on us, and we took a back seat. Today we fought back. We were getting on the ground and getting deflections."

Deerfield (1-2) shot 11 of 29 from three-point range, with Alex Casieri (17 points, five 3-pointers), Myles Baer (11 points, three 3s) and Danny Siegel (6 points on two 3s) leading the way. Casieri's final 3 pulled the Warriors within 49-48 with one minute left.

"I thought in the beginning we were a little passive about defending the 3," Diehl said. "But then we used some strategies to close out faster and get around the screens down low and get in their face."

Ryan Short (7 rebounds) fed Ian Schilling for his lone basket of the game with 40 seconds left in the fourth to extend Warren's lead to 51-48. Diehl then iced the game with 2 free throws with 14 seconds left.

"Confidence is key," Diehl, who's scored 39 points in the tourney, said of his free-throw shooting.

Ellis shot 9 of 15 from the floor, including a 3-pointer and two-handed dunk with 21 seconds left in the opening quarter to put Warren up 13-12. The 6-foot-3 senior guard committed to the University of Indianapolis over the summer but then de-committed. He just received another Division II offer, from Palm Beach Atlantic University.

"I just felt like I rushed it," Ellis said of commitment to Indianapolis.

Ellis has gotten off to a good start, as the three-year varsity player has scored 51 points in the Blue Devils' three games.

"My shot hasn't been falling. My free throws have been atrocious," said Ellis, who went 3 of 6 from the stripe against Deerfield and is 10 of 15 on the season. "But it's such a confidence thing. Getting some nice, easy, pullup jump shots got me going."

Sophomore Adnan Sarancic added 9 points and 9 rebounds for Warren, which resumes the tournament Friday with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff against Fremd.

Deerfield, which plays Mundelein at 6 p.m. Friday, also got double-digit points from Zach Rothenberg (10).

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