Warren stops N. Chicago's animated performance

After watching a highly entertaining Simpsons show, which actually wasn't funny to them, Warren's boys basketball players finally had seen enough.

Talk about prime-time stuff.

North Chicago senior point guard Michael Simpson scored 22 of his game-high 31 points in the third quarter, while his kid brother, sophomore guard Aaron Simpson, drained 15 of his 21 points in the first half.

Warren prevailed, however, receiving a career-best 30 points from senior forward Shahron Thomas and dominating the final eight minutes to pull out an 87-75 win in second-round action of the Blue Devils' Thanksgiving tournament Friday night.

"Both of those Simpsons," Warren coach Chuck Ramsey marveled, "they're really quick, talented. They can shoot, they can drive. They're outstanding players."

With time ticking down in the third quarter, a determined and seemingly unstoppable Michael Simpson dribbled, penetrated and tried to pump in what would have been his 10th field goal of the half. Instead, Warren 6-foot-6 sophomore Nathan Boothe stepped in front of the 5-8 Simpson and stuffed him.

Doh!

Michael Simpson was nearly out of gas and so were the Warhawks.

"My team needed me," Michael Simpson said. "I'm the leader of the team. They play how I play. If I play sluggish, they're going to play sluggish. So I got to come out with my best all the time."

Warren (1-1) and North Chicago (0-2) were tied 63-63 heading into the fourth, but the host Blue Devils took the lead for good less than two minutes in when Boothe fed Thomas for a basket.

Michael Simpson, meanwhile, cooled off. He hit just 1 of 5 shots in the fourth and got little offensive support from his teammates.

Warren enjoyed a significant height advantage and took advantage, eventually overpowering North Chicago under the basket.

"We finally attacked the baskets and got layups that were available," said Ramsey, whose Blue Devils shot a blistering 66 percent (35 of 53). "And then, it sounds funny when you give up all those points, but we did have some good defensive efforts. It's a step in the right direction. It's a lot better than the way we played in the first ballgame (a 69-65 loss to Bartlett on Wednesday)."

Boothe, the brother of former Warren All-American and current Stanford center Sarah Boothe, played huge in his second varsity game. He scored 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds coming off the bench but hurt his right (shooting) hand late in the game.

"They wanted me to get some touches," Boothe said of his coaches, "and rebound."

Another Warren reserve, 6-5 junior Jeremiah Jackson, also played big. He had a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Thomas scored 11 points in the opening quarter, hitting his first 5 shots. He finished 13 of 18 from the floor and also pulled down 7 rebounds.

"I tried to keep the tempo up, score inside and take good-percentage shots," said Thomas, who scored 21 points in Warren's opener.

"I don't really think I'm a go-to man," he added. "I think I'm just a good scorer. Get me the ball and I can score."

Michael Simpson sank five 3-pointers, four in the third quarter, while 5-10 Demetrius Starks had a one-handed dunk as part of his 13-point effort for the Warhawks.

Waukegan 78, Bartlett 36: In Friday's first game at Warren, Illinois-bound Jereme Richmond scored 25 points and Aaron Johnson added 18 for the Bulldogs (2-0), who led 20-5 after one quarter and 37-9 at halftime.