On Grant's big night, it's all North Chicago

There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday night at Grant, which was celebrating the first boys varsity basketball game to be played in its beautiful, brand spankin' new 2,800-seat fieldhouse.

A red ribbon stretched across halfcourt and various Grant school district dignitaries did the honors.

That was just before the Bulldogs faced off against North Suburban Conference Prairie Division foe North Chicago.

But ironically, on Grant's big night, it wound up being North Chicago that left the building a couple hours later with a victory so complete that it was all but wrapped up in a shiny red bow.

The Warhawks and their suffocating full-court press were dominant from start to finish in an 85-47 victory over Grant in the Prairie Division opener for both teams.

North Chicago, which got a game-high 27 points from sophomore guard Aaron Simpson, moves to 2-2 on the season while Grant falls to 2-3. The Bulldogs were led by another sophomore, guard Jerry Gaylor. He had a team-high 18 points and was the only Grant player to reach double-figures.

"They're just a great team," Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said of North Chicago. "That's why they've won the division three years in a row and haven't lost a division game since when? 2006? 2007?"

The Bulldogs may have felt like it's been that long since they had success against North Chicago's press.

All night the Warhawks gave them trouble with it. In fact, Grant sometimes went multiple possessions in a row without being able to get the ball over halfcourt.

By the end the game, the Bulldogs had racked up 29 turnovers, many of which came in the backcourt.

"We worked all week (in practice) going against six guys, going against seven guys to try to get ready for (North Chicago's) press," Bosworth said. "And we worked on trying to pass, pass, pass it out of the press and not dribble through it. We just didn't get the job done tonight doing that.

"They're great athletes. They're so quick. And they're such a good team. If one of our guys makes one mistake, it's so easy for them to go on an 8-point run, a 10-point run. It almost has to be a perfect game for us to be able to beat that."

Grant was far from perfect, but Simpson seemed like it at times.

In the first half, he connected on 5-of-9 three-pointers but at one point hit three in a row.

By halftime, the Warhawks had stretched a 14-point, end-of-first quarter lead to 28 points.

North Chicago, which also got 11 points from Demetrius Starks and scoring from 12 different players, upped its lead to as many as 47 points in the fourth quarter.

"I don't know what was going through our heads tonight. But, they're also a really good team," Gaylor said. "They're just so fast. We don't have anyone on our team that's that fast. And those shots-they were just knocking them down every time. It was just crazy."

The Bulldogs could have gone crazy with frustration, but tried their best to enjoy the historic moment in front of a very generous crowd that had filled almost the entire home side.

"It was still exciting," Gaylor said. "There were a lot of people here, a great atmosphere. I just wish we could have played better.