Mundelein 79, Warren 59

Coaches are always telling players that they will play in games the way they play in practice.

Well, Mundelein guard Kevin Blackowicz also screams in games the way he screams in practice.

"I'm a very energetic person and I like to be our emotional leader," Blackowicz said. "I'm very talkative and I like to really let it out on the court in practice and in games.

"I (scream) all the time."

Think primal scream, with fists clenched and veins popping.

It's what Blackowicz does when he's excited and pumped, which happened to be often on Friday night during Mundelein's monster 79-59 North Suburban Conference victory over visiting Warren.

Blackowicz drilled a back-breaking 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter that put the Mustangs up by 18 points and forced Warren to call a timeout.

Blackowicz let out a big shout on the court and, for good measure, followed that up with another one once he got to the bench.

The Mustangs, after all, were out-shooting, out-rebounding, and above all, routing Warren, Lake County's perennial powerhouse.

"I've only beaten Warren one other time in my life and that's when we upset them last year," said Blackowicz, who finished with 6 points. "This is so great. This is huge for us."

Sophomore guard Ben Brust was also huge for the Mustangs (14-4, 4-2 North Suburban Lake Division).

He tied a career high set against Johnsburg in the Jacobs holiday tournament by pouring in a game-high 30 points on 6 three-pointers.

The Mustangs hit an astounding 11 three-pointers (11-of-24) while Warren connected on only one -- and that one came from reserve Chad Clausen in garbage time just before the final buzzer.

"It's unexplainable," Brust said of his big night, which included a 6-for-8 clip from beyond the arc. "(Teammates) Andy (Rochon) and Navjot (Singh) are looking for me all the time and I can't credit them enough. They find me and I know that they want me to shoot it and I just let it ride. And I know that puppy's going in."

Warren junior guard Brandon Paul, who has already committed to Illinois, has had plenty of those nights, too.

But this wasn't one of them.

Paul struggled from start to finish. He had just 2 points -- on a pair of free throws -- at halftime and finished with 6 points on 2-of-13 shooting.

David Duncan (14 points) and reserve Jake Anderson (10 points) tried their best to pick up the slack, but they were the only two Blue Devils to score in double figures.

"It's tough when that happens," Duncan said of Paul's off night. "Because Brandon is our best player."

Recently, Paul has drawn a lot of double teams. But the Mustangs didn't double him that often. They just relentlessly denied him the ball and forced him out near the 3-point arc just to catch a pass.

That limited his open looks and drives to the basket.

"I was trying to get around (the defense) but I was changing my shot too much and it wasn't falling," said Paul, who has had some 20-plus and 30-plus point games over the last couple of weeks. "I started getting a little frustrated and putting up bad shots."

The rebounding battle also frustrated the Blue Devils (8-6, 2-4 Lake). They lost it 37-27 and let Mundelein have 18 offensive rebounds -- many of which led to second-chance points.

"We've been working all week on rebounding and having five guys go to the glass," said Mundelein coach Dick Knar, who also got 16 points from Navjot Singh and 12 from Ken Branch. "Rebounding was a big key for us tonight and we also kept the game at our tempo. We played up-tempo and got the ball out (on the break).

"But we were under control. We talk all the time about being able to be smart and stay in control, but at the same time still playing with a lot of emotion. We did that tonight."

Indeed. Just ask Blackowicz how sore his throat is.