Warren answers the bell against Carmel

Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz had some concerns about how his girls basketball team would play at noon Saturday after a game the night before.

The Blue Devils handled the situation well and held off Carmel 39-23 in the Blue Devil Holiday Classic at Warren.

Warren's Sarah Boothe led all scorers with 18 points to go with 6 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 assists.

"We came out with a lot of energy after playing a 7 p.m. game (Friday) night," Stanczykiewicz said. "We looked fresh and sharp. It's not as easy as it looks when you play a team that's deliberate on offense.

"We had to work harder and stay focused longer. For 16- and 17-year-olds, it's a challenge in itself. I'm happy with the way we played defense and executed on offense. We played with patience, passed the ball well and found our good shooters."

The game was close through the first few minutes and into the second quarter.

Carmel (7-6, 1-1) had closed to a 2-point deficit at 13-11 when Aubrey Simmons made a layup with 5:52 left.

Then Sarah Boothe created some distance for the Blue Devils (14-0, 2-0) by scoring 5 of the points in a 7-0 run. One of Boothe's buckes was a reverse layup.

"I've been working on it lately," Boothe said. "Everybody came out strong, because we knew that Carmel could be a dark horse in the tournament. (Carmel) is a good team and was very well coached, and we needed to get a good start to the game."

Warren's defense forced Carmel into 6 third-quarter turnovers and limited the Corsairs to 4 points in the period. The Blue Devils outscored the Corsairs 12-4 and held a 32-15 advantage through three quarters.

"Boothe is a force to be reckoned with," Carmel coach John Ryan said. "A player like Boothe makes you alter your game. We wanted (Warren) to play defense and take their legs away a little bit. We wanted to take the opportunities when we got them.

"Warren played tough defense throughout the whole game. We just have to find ways to score more points. You're not going to win many games scoring 23 points."

Tiffany Hendrickson led Carmel with 6 points.

Carmel next plays Wednesday the day after Christmas against Niles North at 6 p.m. Warren follows by taking on Palatine at 7:30 p.m.