Ferguson's flashy effort keeps Warren perfect
He doesn't consider himself stylish, but then Warren senior Brandon Ferguson surely did dress the part Friday night in the Blue Devils' North Suburban Lake Division regular-season finale at Stevenson.
On a night when the Stevenson community participated in its 3rd annual "Hoops for Heroes" fund-raiser, Ferguson and the Devils were given stylish blue camouflage t-shirts that they wore for warm-ups. His bright red pants after the game also sent a stylish message too.
"I am not the stylish one but sometimes I guess I am," Ferguson said. "Really my favorite color is blue."
Ferguson's performance on the basketball court was also a stylish as his 15 points led the Devils to a 44-35 victory over the host Patriots. Warren (23-3) became just the second team to run the table in the NSC Lake as the Devils finished this year with a perfect 12-0 mark.
Coincidentally, the only other team to accomplish that feat since the conference went to two divisions in 2001 was the 2005-2006 Warren Blue Devils.
"(Winning the conference) was what we had talked about all off-season and even when the year began," Ferguson said. "We wanted to win the conference bad this year and I knew we could do it."
It took the Devils some time to dispatch a Stevenson team that saw its four-game win streak snapped.
Warren finally started to pull away midway through the final quarter and it the Devils' defense proved to be the difference.
"I'm just real proud of the kids," said Warren coach Chuck Ramsey. "To play and win in a conference on the road when you know the teams you are facing are well-prepared, confident, well-coached and ready to play every time is an impressive thing."
A quick 6-2 burst midway through the fourth quarter helped Warren finally open up an advantage. Ferguson scored a pair of buckets, one on a feed from JoVaughn Gaines and the other on a sweet play from Darius Paul.
"We had too many empty possessions and you can't have those against a state-ranked team like Warren," Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said. "I'm proud of our kids and how we competed tonight."
Stevenson (13-12, 4-8) did stay close throughout much of the game. The closest the Patriots got in the second half came on a long 3-pointer from Michael Fleming. It was the only long ball of the night for Fleming and the Patriots, and it brought Stevenson to within 27-24 just before the end of the third quarter.
Fleming led the Patriots with 11 points. Jeremiah Jackson answered the Stevenson threat with an offensive putback as the third quarter ended. Jackson finished with 9 points and 14 rebounds to pace Warren.