Warren salutes Zarr, leaves LZ with a victory

It's not often that Warren coach Chuck Ramsey arrives at a visiting gym bearing gifts.

But Friday's game against host Lake Zurich was special.

Prior to tip-off, the Bears honored their former coach, John Zarr. Zarr retired at the end of last season after 16 years at the helm. School officials presented him with a plaque as part of an "Alumni Night" in which former players were invited to return and pay tribute to their old coach.

About 25 former Bears showed up.

Zarr was further humbled when Ramsey gave him a basketball signed by all of the Warren coaches. Considering that he and Zarr have been friendly rivals since the 1970s, when both were assistant coaches at their respective schools, Ramsey figured it was the least he could do.

"We admire John," Ramsey said. "However we can show it, we want to do it."

But that's where Warren's thoughtfulness and generosity ended.

Once the ball was tipped, the Blue Devils weren't in such a giving mood.

Thanks to hot shooting and a punishing defense, they steamrolled Lake Zurich without a second thought. Warren built up a 13-point lead by the end of the first quarter that steadily mushroomed from quarter to quarter. The Blue Devils were never threatened in cruising to an 83-46 North Suburban Conference Lake Division victory.

Warren, coming off an impressive run during the holidays in which it placed second at the ultra-competitive Pontiac Tournament, stays perfect in the Lake at 4-0 and moves to 11-2 overall. Lake Zurich drops to 4-10 and 1-3 in the Lake.

"Everybody was shooting really well," said Warren senior guard Brandon Ferguson, who helped set the tone early by scoring 12 of his 13 points in the first half. He scored 6 points in a second quarter in which the Blue Devils connected on all eight of their shot attempts.

"When we get a big lead like that, we're just focusing on keeping our composure so that we can (close out)," Ferguson said. "That Christmas tournament (at Pontiac) really set us up to believe that we can compete with any team in the state.

"Coming back to Lake County, that gives us confidence to win conference this year."

Warren got a team-high 16 points from center Nathan Boothe and a spectacular shooting performance out of reserve guard Tanner Erbach, who hit 5 three-pointers on his way to 15 points.

Seven players came off the bench to score points for the Blue Devils.

"You have some nights where the ball just goes in and we shot real well tonight," Ramsey said. "From there, things just kind of went our way. You always want to get off to a great start when you can and come out and take charge."

The Blue Devils charged their way to a 45-17 halftime lead and went up by as many as 40 points in the fourth quarter.

"They don't have any weaknesses," Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher matter-of-factly said of Warren. "They have size, they're big and long at every position. They can shoot. We didn't do a good enough job of contesting shots and they just lit us up. And once they get a big lead like they did early, they're tough to get."

Lake Zurich senior guard Mike Boyd did his best to chip away. He scored a game-high 19 points and seemed fearless in his attempts to drive straight at the heart of the Warren defense.

Boyd was the only player from Lake Zurich to reach double-figures.

"They're just such a great team," Boyd said of Warren. "I play with all those kids (from Warren) in the summer during club ball and they're real good. They can be intimidating but I think because I play with them so much in the summer I wasn't intimidated. I was definitely excited to play them ."