North Chicago makes a winning statement

Because the referee was concerned the small scab on Aaron Simpson's chin might open and bleed on his jersey, he ordered North Chicago's super sophomore to slap on a bandage Saturday night.

"It's a fashion statement," joked Simpson, whose chin was scraped when he drove for a layup against Lakes the previous night.

Simpson's real fashion statement was his new haircut. He got it just for Saturday night's North Suburban Prairie Division showdown against Vernon Hills and it was a fancy 'do - a tightly cropped Mohawk with an artistic pattern shaved in.

Less pretty was North Chicago's victory. The visiting Warhawks prevailed 63-56, but like Simpson with his must-wear bandage, there was no complaining from the Warhawks.

After all, the victory moved them that much closer to a fourth-straight NSC Prairie championship. North Chicago is 5-0 in the division, and every other team, including Vernon Hills (12-4, 4-2), has at least two losses.

In what was a tight game for most of the night, Vernon Hills fell behind by as many as 10 points in the fourth but mounted a comeback thanks to the aggressive play of Chris Morgan, who scored 10 of his team-high 18 points in the quarter. After Simpson (team-high 18 points) missed a one-and-one with 36 seconds left, the Cougars rebounded the ball, trailing 60-56.

Vernon Hills turned the ball over, however. It was the Cougars' first turnover of the quarter and only third of the half, after they coughed it up 18 times in the first half.

"You can't simulate anything like (North Chicago's) defense in practice because they're so quick and so fast," said Vernon Hills guard DaVaris Daniels, who had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals. "When you come out and see that, you have to adjust on the fly pretty much. I thought we did a good job of doing that in the second half."

North Chicago had crushed its other four divisional opponents. The Warhawks ran past Grant (85-47), Wauconda (95-67), Round Lake (114-77) and Lakes (106-83).

Vernon Hills knew it had to slow the pace, and the Cougars did.

"They played a good 3-2 (zone)," Simpson said. "We never practiced for them doing that. We practiced for them playing man and we were pushing it up the court. When they slowed it down, our momentum came down with it. We had to slow it down and work with what they gave us."

For a half, despite its troubles protecting the ball, Vernon Hills was playing the game it had hoped.

"Our goal was to keep them under 60," said coach Matt McCarty, whose Cougars trailed 30-28 at the break. "To give ourselves a chance to win, that's what I really emphasized to the guys. So the pace was probably pretty good for us."

North Chicago received strong play off the bench from Demetrius Starks (13 points, 7 rebounds) and Darryl Pearson (11 points, 6 rebounds). Starks' one-handed floater beat the third-quarter buzzer and had the Warhawks up 48-39.

Simpson's big brother Michael added 9 points, and Darrell Robinson scored all eight of his in the second half.

Freshman Stephen Curry came off the bench to score 11 points for Vernon Hills.

"We came close, but there's no moral victories for anybody on this team," Daniels. "It's just disappointing that we fell short at the end."