It's heartbreak for Warren as Waukegan takes sectional title

So magical, so amazing, so unbelievable, it will be talked about for years. For decades.

The Class 4A sectional final Friday night between Waukegan and Warren will likely be remembered as one of the greatest high school basketball games ever played in Lake County.

Definitely in the history of Waukegan High School, which hosted the craziness in the one gym in the area that seems worthy of such an historic event, the school's old-school East Campus gym.

"People still talk about things that happened here in 1972," Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw said. "This one is going to be talked about for a long, long time, 30, 40, 50 years from now it will be talked about."

As it should. Because this game had it all.

There were all kinds of amazing swings in momentum that favored both teams and kept the fans, packed in the stands like sardines and standing two to three deep on the outer concourse as early as two hours before tip, on the edge of their seats. On top of that, there was not one, but two amazing examples of heroics at the end.

The second one, a half-court shot by junior guard Jereme Richmond at the final buzzer, put second-seeded Waukegan over the top, 71-69.

The victory, celebrated by hundreds of fans who swarmed the floor, gives the Bulldogs their first sectional title since 2005 and propels them into Tuesday's Sears Centre supersectional (8 p.m. tip-off) against Glenbrook North, a 67-61 winner over Notre Dame in the Niles North sectional.

No. 4 Warren, which was looking for its sixth sectional title since 1995, closes out its season with a 23-6 record.

"I actually practice that shot (from half-court) every day and I probably make about 3-out-of-10, so I wanted that shot. I was comfortable with that shot. But-I was pretty elated when I saw it go in," said Richmond, who poured in a game-high 31 points. "After that, I just got trounced. People were jumping all over me, but I didn't mind. I didn't feel a thing."

The celebrating continued into the Bulldogs' locker room, where the team was then treated to homemade cupcakes in Richmond's honor.

Of all things, of all days, it was Richmond's birthday.

Think he might remember his 17th birthday for awhile?

"I'm going to remember this birthday forever," said Richmond, who still has another year at Waukegan before he suits up for Illinois, where he committed before the start of the season. "This is the best birthday present I could have gotten."

Meanwhile, Warren guard Brandon Paul, a senior who will be playing at Illinois next year, wanted to give his mom Lynda, whose birthday is Sunday, the best birthday present ever. And he thought he did.

Warren trailed Waukegan by two points (68-66) with 8.6 second left. The Blue Devils, who entered the fourth quarter down by 7 points, called time out to draw up a play. The ball went right into Paul's hands.

He forced a 3-point shot that missed.

But - he was fouled. With 4.7 seconds left.

He made the first free throw, then Waukegan tried to ice him with a timeout.

But Paul made the second two free throws to give the Blue Devils a 69-68 lead.

Clutch. The stuff that heroes are made of.

"My mom was going through my mind when I was standing there at the line," Paul said as he choked back tears. He finished with a team-high 27 points. "Her birthday is Sunday and she said all she wanted was a win. She doesn't want much. She just wanted us to win.

"When they went in, I thought the game was over after that."

But clearly, this was a game in which anything could happen.

Way back in the first quarter, Warren jumped out to a 17-2 lead, thanks to a couple of 3-pointers by Paul and some nice interior passing that led to easy baskets by forwards James Poliquin and Alex Anderson.

The Blue Devils took a 24-11 lead into the second quarter.

But hold your horses.

Waukegan then went on a run of its own. A big-time run. The Bulldogs reeled off an amazing 21-0 run to start the quarter, and ultimately took a 34-28 lead into the locker room at the break.

Nothing much changed in the third quarter and then Warren climbed back into the game by running out to a 12-2 start in the fourth quarter.

"We had some amazing runs tonight," said Warren coach Chuck Ramsey, who also got 15 points, including 3 three-pointers, from David Duncan, and 12 points from Jake Anderson. "I have nothing but praise for both teams, the way both teams handled the pressure and gave the fans a great show.

"It's just heartbreaking for us because it ends our season and we had more we wanted to do."

Besides Richmond, two other players scored in double-figures for Waukegan. Colin Nickerson had 15 points and Mike Springs had 13 points.