Warren pulls away to improve to 10-0

Although the Warren Blue Devils girls basketball team had a 10-point halftime lead over Stevenson on Wednesday night, they were less than satisfied.

"Our coaches pretty much sat us down and talked to us about picking up the level of our game and not playing down to the level of who we were playing," Warren junior guard Joree Green. "We needed to pick up the intensity and play the way we were capable."

It took just two minutes into the third quarter of the North Suburban Lake Division tilt in Gurnee for the home team to take complete control. The Devils outscored the Patriots 19-4 in the quarter and rolled on to a 49-27 win to remain perfect at 10-0 and 4-0 in the NSC Lake.

Stevenson fell to 4-7, 1-2.

"We needed to raise our level of play," Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz said. "We challenged the girls at halftime to come out and play better."

There was no better way for the Devils to raise their play than to get the ball to Stanford-bound senior Sarah Boothe. Boothe scored the first bucket of the half then assisted on another as the Warren lead began to grow.

Boothe and senior Lory Shaw contributed to a 14-0 burst in the first five minutes of the quarter that turned a closely contested first half into a third-quarter blowout. Stevenson finally marked with 2:51 to go on a layup by Claire Moller.

"For us, tonight it was about taking care of ours and limiting theirs," Stevenson coach Trish Betthauser said. "We wanted to shorten their possessions but we couldn't get a shot to go either. If we get a 12-15-foot shot to go in the third maybe we stay in it longer."

Stevenson shook off a slow start in the first quarter to pull within 13-8 midway through the second quarter. The Patriots got a shot in the arm off the bench from Kelsey Simon and Anna Morrissey. With Boothe on the bench in foul trouble, Stevenson ran off six straight to get as close as they would all night.

Boothe did return shortly after the Stevenson burst and immediately helped Warren pull away. Boothe, who scored half of her 20 points in the third quarter, started a 7-0 run with a pair of blocked shots and two buckets to help Warren take the lead to 20-8 with 2:52 to play in the half.

"We tried to make Shaw settle for a short jumper and if she hit that it was OK," Betthauser said. "We tried to then double down on Boothe, but she was too tough. You have to pick your poison with this team."

Kayla Fisher led Stevenson with 6 points and 3 steals.

Besides her 20 points, Boothe had 8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Shaw finished with 9 points, 5 points and 3 boards. Shana Shepherd (two 3-pointers) and Kristin Mierzejewski each had 6 points.