Too much of Deerfield's Dukan for Vernon Hills
A spell of cold shooting in the fourth quarter cost Vernon Hills dearly against Deerfield at the Wheeling Hardwood Classic on Tuesday.
The Cougars led for most of the contest, but a monster night from 6-foot-8 senior forward Duje Dukan led the Warriors to a 60-54 victory.
Dukan scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Deerfield rallied from an early deficit.
DaVaris Daniels scored 26 points and hit five 3-pointers for Vernon Hills, but the Cougars were held scoreless for the first 51/2 minutes of the final period.
"I think he (Dukan) decided in the fourth quarter that he just wasn't going to lose," said Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty. "He's a nice player, and he was able to take the ball and just drive right to the basket."
Vernon Hills (8-3) had everything going their way in the first half. The Cougars nailed four of their first five 3-point attempts, and when Brian Berzanski (4 points) canned a layup midway through the second quarter, their lead was 32-23.
It was more of the same in the third quarter. A steal and layup from Stephen Curry gave Vernon Hills a 44-37 advantage, and the Cougars still led 48-43 after three.
But the fourth quarter was all Deerfield.
Led by forward Oren Schwartz (6 of his 17 points in the final eight minutes), the Warriors went on a 12-0 run to take a 7 point lead.
"They stepped up," said Vernon Hills senior Chris Morgan (10 points). "They hit some shots, and we made some turnovers that led to easy baskets for them."
"They had that little stretch," added McCarty, "and I called timeout, because I could tell from our guys' body language that they were acting like they were down by 15 instead of down by 5. We can live with 6-point or 8-point runs, but not 12-point runs."
Vernon Hills missed 8 straight 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter, but Daniels and Morgan each nailed late clutch 3's to bring the Cougars within 2 points with a minute left.
But crucial free throws by Deerfield's Adam Rhum helped close out the game.
Daniels added 8 rebounds for the Cougars, Stephen Curry scored 5 points while Brandon Curry added 4.
"We lost tonight to a very good team," Morgan said. "Their No. 13 (Dukan) is an amazing player."