Warren aces tourney court test
One would have to excuse Warren's girls basketball team if it seemed the Blue Devils came out sluggish Monday.
"We're in the middle of finals right now," Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz said.
"The girls had finals on Friday, had a full day of finals (Monday) and then will have another full day of finals (today).
"And this is our third game in four days. So I think the combination of all that got us off to a slow start."
After missing their first 6 shots, the Blue Devils found their energy midway through the second quarter and came back to defeat visiting Niles North 44-35 in the second round of the Blue Devil Classic.
It was the third straight win for Warren (5-8). Niles North fell to 1-12.
"Niles North's team is out of school right now," Stanczykiewicz said. "They're a good team and they took advantage and got a quick start on us, but I have to hand it to our kids. We put some subs in and they gave us some energy and we got back in the game."
There's no rest for the weary, as Niles North (0-2 in tournament) will play Grayslake Central at 4:30 p.m. today, while Warren (2-0) will face Palatine at 7 p.m.
Warren dominated the boards, outrebounding Niles North 32-17.
Jessica Prince scored 12 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, 10 of which came off the offensive side. She scored 6 second-chance points.
Morgan Garrett scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for Warren.
"Morgan has been a consistent player for us all year inside," Stanczykiewicz said. "She is athletic, really does a nice job of finding open spots and is starting to finish. We didn't do that early in the year."
Alexis Leneau added 10 points for the Blue Devils.
The teams were tied 14-14 after one quarter. Prince, who was scoreless in the first quarter, scored all 8 of Warren's points in the second quarter as Warren built a 22-18 half-time lead.
Despite several scoring opportunities, Niles North was not able to come back.
The Vikings' Mariyah Henley, in only her third game of the season, led all scorers with 19 points. She is coming back from shoulder surgery in June.
"After the first quarter, we started to panic," Henley said. "Coach (Dan Paxson) talked to us and after that we were able to get it together. We just came up short in the fourth quarter."
"Warren started to press us with their zone," Paxson said. "We practiced our pass and catching drills and we weren't doing that in the game. I told the kids that until we can do that solidly, we aren't going to win. We also had a lot of nice, open looks, but we were just cold tonight."
Grayslake Central 55, Palatine 43: The Rams bounced back from a loss on Day 1 of the Blue Devil Classic.
Alex Scarbro scored 13 points for Grayslake Central (9-2, 1-1), while Skyler Jessop added nine.
The Rams received 8 points apiece from Maddy Miller, Rebekah Llorens and Claire Brennan.
Grayslake Central led 15-9 after the first quarter and extended the advantage to 31-17 by halftime.
Lake Forest 28, Carmel 27: The Scouts' win evened their record at 1-1 in the Blue Devil Classic, while the Corsairs fell to 1-1.
Suburban Holiday Showcase
Stevenson 48, Lake Zurich 37: Michelle O'Brien scored 13 points and Kelsey Simon added 11, as Stevenson's girls basketball team pulled out a 48-37 win over host Lake Zurich on Monday night.
The Suburban Holiday Showcase contest also counted as a North Suburban Lake Division game.
Stevenson improved to 9-4 overall, 2-0 in the tournament and 3-2 in the NSC Lake.
Stevenson led only 32-28 after three quarters before outscoring Lake Zurich 16-9 in the fourth.
"It wasn't our best," Patriots coach Tom Dineen said. "We missed some free throws, missed some easy ones, but down the stretch we did some good things. Good teams are supposed to win when they're not at their best, and we did that."
Audrey Bauer and Gabby Chapa scored 10 and 9 points, respectively, for Lake Zurich (5-8), which lost its fourth straight. The Bears fell to 0-2 in the tourney and 1-4 in the NSC Lake.
The tournament resumes today at Niles West, with Stevenson playing Loyola at 5:30 p.m. and Lake Zurich facing Niles West at 7 p.m.
Mundelein 56, Prairie Ridge 29: In Monday's eighth and final game at Mundelein, the host Mustangs got 10 points from Olivia Dunigan to lead a balanced attack.
Mundelein (7-7, 1-1 tournament) also got 9 points from Brooke Evans, eight from Amanda Davis and seven from Jessi Bjerning.
Zion-Benton 56, Huntley 45: At Mundelein, Juanita Robinson scored a career-high 31 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out 5 assists, as the Zee-Bees won their eighth in a row.
Zion-Benton (11-2, 2-0) also got a strong game from Dominikque Williams (10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 took charges). Other contributors in the win included Shay Jackson (4 points, 6 rebounds), Octavia Crump (8 points, 5 rebounds) and Mary Dillow (6 rebounds, 2 steals).
Grant 47, Waukegan 27: At Mundelein, the 9 a.m. game featured the Bulldogs vs. the Bulldogs, with Grant seizing control of the tournament game in the second half.
Heather Chapman scored 15 points and Donnie Taggart added 10 for Grant (6-7, 1-1), which led 18-12 at halftime and then outscored Waukegan 16-8 in the fourth and 13-7 in the fourth.
Syerra Cunningham scored 15 points for Waukegan.
Grayslake Central 55, Palatine 43: The Rams bounced back from a loss on Day 1 of the Warren Blue Devil Classic.
Alex Scarbro scored 13 points for Grayslake Central (9-2, 1-1), while Skyler Jessop added nine. The Rams received 8 points apiece from Maddy Miller, Rebekah Llorens and Claire Brennan.
Grayslake Central led 15-9 after the first quarter and extended the advantage to 31-17 by halftime.
Lake Forest 28, Carmel 27: The Scouts' win evened their record at 1-1 in the Blue Devil Classic, while the Corsairs fell to 1-1.