Warren, Paul prevail

They figure to meet up on a Big Ten basketball court next year.

This season, though, Warren's Brandon Paul and Lake Forest's Matt Vogrich will battle each other in packed high school gyms.

Both players put on good shows Tuesday night, with the Illinois-bound Paul dropping in a season-best 31 points and grabbing 9 rebounds to lead Warren to a 70-62 win in overtime at Lake Forrst.

Vogrich scored a career-best 39 points and also collected 9 rebounds.

Paul hit 6 of 8 free throws in overtime, as Warren improved to 5-1 and 3-0 in the North Suburban Lake Division. The Blue Devils prevailed after letting a 16-point lead slip away in the second half.

"The free throws made a big difference," Paul said. "We shot (free throws) and missed a little bit. But we made the ones we needed.

"I knew this game would be a good one. I thought if we had good intensity we could take it over."

The Blue Devils scored the first 6 points in OT and ended up outscoring Lake Forest (3-2, 1-1) 13-5 during the four minutes.

"You're not going to beat (Lake Forest) by 16 here," Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said. "I give our kids a lot of credit. When you lose a big lead, it's usually hard to come back and win the game.

"We didn't hold onto the lead, but we won the game. It's almost like winning it twice."

Warren hiked its lead to 38-22 when David Duncan (10 points) hit a 3-pointer with 6:11 left in the third quarter.

The Scouts responded, trimming their deficit to 45-35 heading into the fourth quarter.

Vogrich converted a three-point play to cap a 16-5 run and put the Scouts up 51-50 with 3:58 left. It was only the third time in the game Lake Forest was in front.

Warren pulled even at 57-57. Vogrich then had a chance to win the game in regulation, but his 15-foot fade-away jumper missed.

"We had a lot of momentum coming back from 16 down," Vogrich said. "We could've closed it out if I made the shot. I thought it was going in, but it was a little long and it hit the back of the rim."

In the overtime, the Scouts didn't have enough energy to keep up with the Blue Devils.

"They made some moves in the post," Lake Forest coach Phil LaScala said. "Then (Warren) got a lead on us and we didn't bounce back real well. I have to make (our players) realize it's a 4-minute overtime. We played it like a one-possession type of game. It seemed like we were dejected after the first two possessions."