Burton steps up as Devils edge Mustangs
Warren junior guard Craig Burton has waited patiently for his chance to contribute to the Blue Devils' success this season.
Considering the recent rash of injuries and illnesses that now include coach Chuck Ramsey, Burton has been getting his chance of late and is certainly taking full advantage of it.
In making just his third start of the season because of a lingering illness to senior Jake Anderson and an ankle injury for senior Brandon Paul, Burton proceeded to put together his finest effort of the season.
His season-high 15 points lifted Warren to a 68-62 road win over Mundelein on Friday night.
"Burton is one of the hardest workers we have on this team," Ramsey said. "Since the first day of the season until now he always tries to go out and do the little things right, and now he is getting a chance to play and he is playing well."
"This just means everything for me to get an opportunity on a team like this," Burton said. "I have learned that you have to work hard if you want to get out and see the floor on this team."
Burton is just one of a handful of healthy players for Warren (18-5), which finishes 9-3 in the North Suburban Lake Division. Besides Anderson not suiting up and Paul playing limited minutes and scoring just 10 points, senior James Poliquin was clearly less than 100 percent after missing most of the week of practice with an illness.
"Right now we either have guys that are down or guys that are injured," said Ramsey, who also struggled with a bout of the flu this week. "I thought our kids gave good effort and made some big free throws down the stretch for us."
Even with the long list of injuries and illness, the Blue Devils still were able to build a 46-32 lead midway through the third quarter. A long 3-pointer by the Illinois-bound Paul capped off a 10-2 burst, giving the Devils their biggest lead of the night.
Instead of folding under the pressure, Mundelein responded with a 10-4 burst that brought the Mustangs within 59-55 midway through the final quarter. Senior Kevin Barber was a huge catalyst for the Mustangs. His 26-point effort enabled Mundelein (10-17, 1-11) to pull within a bucket with under a minute to go.
"I am not upset with the effort tonight," Mundelein coach Dick Knar said. "We just had so many opportunities there in the second half to finish off plays and we did not."
But the Devils iced this one at the free-throw line, getting a pair of foul shots each from David Duncan (11 points) and Paul. Sharon Thomas also hit double figures for Warren with 11 points.
Aaron Metzger tossed in 17 points to help the Mustangs.