Jackson, Warren jump to it

Fortunately for the mother of Vernon Hills senior guard Chris Argianas, she caught the mini plastic basketball that her son tossed to her during starting lineup introductions.

Otherwise, Warren's jumpin' Jeremiah Jackson might have plucked that basketball, too.

Argianas, the football quarterback, ran halfway up the bleachers and made a perfect pass to Mom, who made a two-handed grab.

"I promised her before the game I'd do it," Argianas said.

With all due respect to Notre Dame-bound wide receiver DaVaris Daniels of Vernon Hills, the only person with softer hands in the gym on Senior Night might have been Jackson.

His 17 rebounds and 11 points helped pace Warren to a 44-30 win Saturday night in the "other" North Suburban Conference championship game, which was actually a conference crossover.

NSC Lake Division champ Warren, which improved to 24-3 with its 11th win in a row, will host North Chicago in the actual NSC title game Wednesday night. Vernon Hills (16-9) and North Chicago tied for first in the NSC Prairie, but North Chicago won a tiebreaker to represent the division in the conference championship game.

"We approached this one like we approach every other game," Jackson said.

Not Vernon Hills.

"Before the game, we said, 'This is our championship night,' " Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. "(Warren's) length ended up causing us some problems on the offensive glass. When they get rebounds, they don't even have to come down with them. They just tip it in over our guys."

Warren's 6-foot-6 Darius Paul scored a game-high 13 points and snatched 9 rebounds. He and the 6-5 Jackson were the Blue Devils' only double-digit scorers. Two other starters, 6-8 Nathan Boothe and 6-3 JoVaughn Gaines, had 6 points apiece for the visitors, who led most of the night by a single-digit margin.

"Very athletic," Argianas said. "Definitely the most athletic team we've faced.

"They definitely had a height advantage also," Argianas added, smiling. "Their starting lineup probably had 50 inches on us combined."

Jackson tipped in a teammate's missed shot at the halftime buzzer to put Warren up 18-13. It was his 12th rebound.

Jackson was coming off a 13-rebound effort against Stevenson the previous night.

"He's persistent," Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said of the senior. "He tries to rebound every ball. Most kids go for only balls that they're sure they're going to get. He goes and gets the ball with both hands. You don't see him trying to tip the ball to himself. And contact does not bother him."

It's simple, Jackson will tell you.

"All I do is just box out and go for the rebound," Jackson said. "That's what I'm supposed to do. I'm a big man."

Daniels scored 11 points, including a dunk, and was Vernon Hills' only double-digit scorer. Stephen Curry added 9 points on a pair of 3-pointers and three-point play.

It was just the second home loss in 10 games for Vernon Hills.

"It was really a great opportunity for us to see how we compare and compete with the best," said the sharpshooting Argianas, who was held without a 3-pointer. "They're a (Class) 4A team so we know we won't be playing a team like that in the (Class 3A) playoffs."

Warren, which is ranked third in The Associated Press poll in Class 4A, shot 19 of 23 from the foul line and committed only 7 turnovers.

"I don't think we've ever had a team ranked as high as they are come into this gym," McCarty said. "I told our guys this is probably the best team that's ever come into our gym since the school has been open."

Jacobs 65, Libertyville 56: What a difference a night makes.

After shooting a woeful 31 percent in a gut-wrenching 40-34 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division loss to District 300 rival Dundee-Crown Friday, Jacobs bounced back Saturday night to shoot a sizzling 65 percent from the floor.

Making 25-of-38 shots, the Golden Eagles were able to cruise past Libertyville 65-56 in nonconference boys basketball action in Algonquin Saturday night.

"I was glad we played tonight so the kids didn't have much time to think about last night's tough loss," said Jacobs coach Jim Hinkle. "We had a good workout this morning and the kids were ready to play. We came into tonight's game with a healthy attitude. We did a good job of breaking down their defense and got easy shots. We shot the ball much better tonight."

The Golden Eagles' (14-12) teamwork was evident. Out of 25 baskets, Jacobs had 21 assists.

Along with a game-high 27 points, Nick Hofman dished out 6 assists. Mike Peterson scored 14 points, which included 11-of-13 from the free throw line to go along with 10 assists.

Matt Ehrhardt scored 4 points, but dealt out 4 assists with 5 steals.

"We tried to forget about last night and come out and play hard," said Hofman. "We were ready to play tonight. We did a good job of running the floor and we got easy baskets. We did a good job of finding the open man."

Jacobs, which never trailed in the game, won the game in the final 3 minutes by connecting on 11-of-15 from the free throw line. Peterson made 9-of-11 from the line while Hofman connected on 2-of-3 as the Golden Eagles held on for a 9-point win.

Jon Kowalski added 9 points with 7 rebounds for the winners.

Libertyville (10-15), which made 20-of-50 shots for 40 percent, was hindered by 17 turnovers.

The Wildcats were led in scoring by Ellis Matthews, who scored 15 points including three 3-pointers before fouling out with 2:46 left in the game. Griffin Pils scored 12 and Ryan Barth 11 in a losing cause.

"We are consistently inconsistent," said Libertyville coach Scott Bogumil. "We played well last night in the win against Lake Forest, but we didn't play well tonight especially at the defensive end. They got way too many easy transition baskets. Offensively, we settled for way too many perimeter shots. Our shot selection wasn't very good."

Dave Hess

Mundelein 85, Grant 73: Sean O'Brien is either a new breed of basketball player, or maybe the Mundelein sophomore just doesn't know any better and would rather defer to the upper classmen.

"I get more of a thrill out of a big rebound or a perfect pass than I do getting a bucket," O'Brien said. "We have so many options that it's just as much fun getting those guys the ball."

O'Brien's numbers in the Mustangs' 85-73 win at Grant on Saturday night were rather pedestrian. Then again, his 8 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists are just what the Mustangs expect from the 6-foot-4 varsity rookie.

"All year long he has been that unsung hero for us," Mundelein coach Dick Knar said. "He's a real smart basketball player even smarter than his coach."

O'Brien's effort helped lift Mundelein (25-4) to its fourth straight win. The Mustangs are only 3 shy of tying the school record for wins in a season.

They broke open the game in the second quarter, using a 15-5 burst to take a 42-23 advantage. The lead grew behind the play of O'Brien on the glass and Evansville-bound senior Ryan Sawvell.

Sawvell was quick and elusive, scoring a game-best 28 points, including 17 before the break.

"I liked how active Ryan was tonight," Knar said. "He made (Grant) have to foul him hard in order to stop him."

Leavon Head and Robert Knar ignited Mundelein in the third quarter. Knar scored 7 of his 17 points, as the Mustangs built their lead to over 20 points. Head chipped in with 14 points, all but four coming before halftime.

Grant (14-11) found an offensive rhythm late, but couldn't slow down the high-powered Mustangs.

"With our game this week against Lake Zurich (on Tuesday) we need to just look at getting better every day," said Grant coach Wayne Bosworth, whose team dropped its fourth in a row. "Mundelein is a good team that runs their offense like a 25-4 team runs its offense."

Grant outscored Mundelein 22-10 in a wild fourth quarter. But the Bulldogs got no closer than the final 12-point margin.

The Bulldogs got balanced scoring, led by Sean Wells' 14 points. Jerry Gaylor netted 11 of his 13 points in the opening half. Ilya Kadushin and Vic Muntu added 11 points each.

Jeff Newton