North Chicago asserts itself against Vernon Hills

Stephen Curry canned a shot he likely won't soon forget.

The Vernon Hills freshman sank a two-handed half-court shot to beat the halftime buzzer at North Chicago on Friday night.

It gave the Cougars thoughts of a comeback.

However, the third-seeded Cougars couldn't stay with top-seeded North Chicago in the second half, as the Warhawks pulled away to capture an 85-55 win in the teams' Class 3A regional final.

North Chicago (19-7) advanced to play St. Viator in Tuesday's 6 p.m. sectional semifinal at Vernon Hills. St. Viator rolled past Fenton 54-40 to win its own regional.

Vernon Hills (17-11) had reached the regional final on a DaVaris Daniels buzzer-beater against Grayslake Central on Wednesday.

Curry's long-range heave got the Cougars within 40-31 at the break.

"I just got the ball and flung it up," said Curry, who finished with 10 points. "I just chucked it up there. I never thought it would go in. Not at all. When it went in, I saw the fans' reaction and it just made us want to come back in the second half fighting again."

North Chicago came out strong to start the third quarter, as Daryle Pearson scored six of his career-high 22 points during a 17-5 run. The Warhawks increased their lead to 57-36 with 3:28 left.

"North Chicago really never blinked an eye," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. "They just came out strong in the second half. It's a credit them that they stepped up and hit their shots."

North Chicago led 65-46 going into the final quarter.

"We thought Vernon Hills got a lot of momentum (from Curry's 3-pointer)," North Chicago coach Gerald Coleman said. "We expected them to come out and be ready to play. We had to match their intensity. We had to put our foot down in the first four minutes to take control.

"We really shot well in this game and played with a lot of intensity," Coleman added. "We're a quick team and can penetrate any zone or man-to-man by getting our big guys to slide in for the layups."

Michael Simpson added 18 points for the Warhawks, who played again without injured guard Aaron Simpson. Demetrius Starks and Maurice Gordon each had 12.

Vernon Hills stuck with North Chicago in the early portion of the game. Daniels scored six of his game-high 24 points in the first four minutes (7-7 tie).

But the Warhawks went on a 14-4 run and closed the quarter up 21-11.

Chris Morgan added 14 points for the Cougars.

"North Chicago got out early and often," McCarty said. "We kind of hung our heads a bit. The lead went from seven to 15, and it's tough to get back into it when you guard man-to-man."