Warren pulls away from Mundelein

What was expected to be a close, early season battle between Mundelein and Warren stayed close for about a half. After that, it was all Warren.

Warren blew past the visiting Mustangs 79-41 in a North Suburban Lake game Saturday night.

The Blue Devils (6-2, 2-0) found themselves clinging to a 3-point lead heading into the break. Warren seemed to flip a switch during the halftime talk in the locker room and came out like a completely different team in the second half.

“We emphasized what we needed to do,” said Warren coach Chuck Ramsey. “We got away from our game at the end of the second quarter. We saw what Mundelein can do and what they're very capable of a great team, and we know that.

“At halftime we had to re-establish what we wanted to do. The main thing was to get Nathan Boothe active and more involved inside. When he competes and plays assertively, it makes a big difference for us.”

The Blue Devils scored 16 unanswered points in the third quarter.

“We were able to get the ball to the basket and forced turnovers.” Ramsey said. “We played real good defense in the second half.”

Boothe scored 4 of his 6 points early in the third quarter by attacking the basket.

“Coach (Ramsey) got after me and asked me to step it up,” Boothe said. “Getting the ball movement got everybody involved.”

Jameris Smith and Darius Paul finished with a game-high 16 points apiece for Warren, and Brandon Ferguson and Jon Geske each added 10.

“My role is to come off the bench and provided the energy,” said Smith, who hit a career high in points. “I was looking for ways to penetrate or dish off. We were able to find movement and got hot.”

Warren shot 63 percent for the game and was 22-for-30 from the field in the second half. , Mundelein was held to 29 percent overall and just 5-for-29 in the second half. Warren out-rebounded Mundelein 40-17.

Mundelein's Ryan Sawvell (10 rebounds) scored 11 of his team-high 13 points in the second quarter, helping the Mustangs (6-2, 2-1) close the gap before the end of the first half.

“Second half, our intensity level dropped and (Warren) started getting interior baskets,” Mundelein coach Dick Knar said. “We were late and behind. (Warren) got easy baskets. Then we got down 12 to 18 points and it just got ugly from there.

“I thought we were trying to do things individually, going one-on-one, and you can't do that. Everything just went from bad to worse. It's the first time this year that this has happened. When (Warren) got us down, they buried us.”