Warren keeps learning from Simeon at Pontiac

Warren has every reason to be sick of Simeon ... and yet isn't.

The defending Class AA state champions have become a bit of a thorn in the Blue Devils' side.

The two powerhouses faced off at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament again last month. And again, Simeon came out on top.

"This was the fifth straight year Simeon gave us our first loss at Pontiac," Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said. "We've lost to them in the quarters, the semis, the championship game last year and in the third-place game this year.

"But we enjoy playing them."

Don't get Ramsey wrong. He says he and his players would love to knock off Simeon, but that they greatly appreciate the challenge of the game, even in a loss.

"That program at Simeon is good," Ramsey said. "They've got tremendous players who play the game right and they are very well-coached. We kind of figure that's why we go to tough tournaments like Pontiac. You play competition like that so you can get that experience and know how to improve. You know, I can tell the guys forever what we need to work on, but sometimes they just need to see it on the floor and a team like Simeon gives that to them."

Double trouble: Over the holidays, Warren junior guard Brandon Paul left little doubt that he is one of the best underclassmen in the state -- good enough, in fact, to have already landed a scholarship offer from Illinois.

Paul was red-hot at the Pontiac Tournament. He made the all-tournament team and basked in a 36-point performance against Oak Park in which he went head-to-head with fellow highly-rated recruit Iman Schumpert, who scored 34 points.

In Warren's other wins, over Danville and Pontiac, Paul scored 17 and 16 points, respectively.

But in the Simeon game, Paul struggled. He scored only 5 points.

Then again, Simeon was the only team at Pontiac to double-team Paul.

"We're going to start seeing that more and more," Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said. "Brandon's done a good job of dealing with it so far, it's just that he's going to have to get used to moving without the ball more and doing a better job of setting and receiving screens so that we can free him up and he can get himself open.

"We've also got to get some scoring from other people. We need others to contribute so that other teams can't focus just on Brandon."

Welcome back? There was no easing into it for Warren center James Poliquin.

The 6-foot-4 junior had been sidelined since the start of the season when he sprained his ankle in practice and doctors wound up finding an old crack on the X-ray.

Poliquin was put in a cast immediately and ordered to sit out until around the holidays.

Well, that timetable was right on the money. Poliquin, however, wasn't.

Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said that when Poliquin tried to play at Pontiac over the holidays he struggled with his conditioning ... and understandably so.

"Pontiac is a very tough place to be playing your first games and getting your bearings when everyone else is approaching midseason form," Ramsey chuckled. "James has been out a long time and it's going to take a while for him to round into condition and scrape off the rust. I'm not sure how much he's going to be playing at first. We would love to put him right in there because he's our biggest player and he can rebound and score and defend the post.

"We'll just have to see how quickly he can find his way."