Maine West better in rematch with Deerfield

Maine West junior Odera Eneogwe was late to enter Thursday night's Central Suburban North boys basketball game with visiting Deerfield after he was late to practice Wednesday.

So Eneogwe knew he had better make an impact when he got in the game to make sure Maine West was better than a 46-point rout it absorbed at Deerfield in December.

He did exactly that to help Maine West take a 7-point second quarter lead. But CSL North leader Deerfield (15-1, 6-0) and Wisconsin recruit Duje Dukan pulled away in the second half to a 67-49 victory in Des Plaines.

"The last time we played them we were so hesitant," said Maine West coach Erik McNeill of being outscored by a point by Dukan in a 70-24 loss.

The 6-foot-8 Dukan scored 12 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter Thursday on 9-for-14 shooting from the field and 10-for-12 on free throws.

But Eneogwe didn't hesitate to get involved for Maine West (6-12, 1-5) after waiting to get in the game for what he called an appropriate punishment. The 6-2 junior took it out on Deerfield with 13 of his team-high 18 points and 5 of his 9 rebounds in the first half.

"We knew he'd give us a good spark off the bench," McNeill said.

"I wanted to make it known even though I was coming off the bench that I was going to go as hard as I can," Eneogwe said. "I felt I had to go hard and show I can still be ready to play the game even though I was coming off the bench."

Deerfield knew it was in for a tougher test after its big 56-52 win over Glenbrook North last Thursday and its move this week to ninth in The Associated Press Class 4A state poll.

A layup by sophomore Conor Hart (16 points) on Eneogwe's feed put Maine West up 23-16.

"They had us on our heels all of the first half," said Deerfield coach Bret Just. "I thought our defensive execution in the first half was poor."

But Deerfield picked up and extended its defensive intensity after Dukan beat the halftime buzzer with a tiebreaking 19-footer during a 20-5 tear. Maine West was also hurt by foul trouble holding Alex Samuelson to 2 shots and 4 points of his team-high 14.6 average.

"It felt good we actually kept up with a ranked team," Eneogwe said. "We know we're not a bad team after all. Even though we lost it gives us some confidence going to Glenbrook North (next Thursday)."