Warren wins at Waukegan
Warren coach Chuck Ramsey figures his team has a long way to go to get to the level that the Blue Devils were at when they finished second in Class 4A last season.
But Saturday night, in the final contest of the Waukegan Thanksgiving Tournament, the Blue Devils showed signs of a team that is making strides in that direction.
Warren capped a perfect weekend by downing the host Bulldogs 57-43 to capture the tournament title at Waukegan.
“This was one of the goals that the team had set before the season started,” Ramsey said. “Tonight I thought we played well in spurts, but we have a very long way to go.”
One of the “spurts” Ramsey mentioned came in the third quarter as Warren (3-0) opened up a tight contest. An 11-2 run in the third quarter led by a dunk and a long 3-pointer from Western Michigan-bound senior Darius Paul put Warren in front 45-36 at the end of three quarters. Paul led all scorers with 26 and was named to the all-tournament team along with seniors Roman Schultz and Nathan Boothe.
“Darius did a lot of nice things tonight,” Ramsey said. “He rebounded the ball well with 6 boards and passed it well too and did some good things in the post.”
Waukegan (1-2), which relied heavily on the 3-pointer most of the night, failed to find the long ball in the second half, hitting only 3 after burying 6 in the first half.
“We did a better job in the second half of stepping out on their shooters,” said Warren senior Mitch Munda, who contributed 5 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. “We are still learning and have a bunch of younger guys so we have to continue to get better.”
Warren continued to get better in the fourth quarter as the Devils held Waukegan without a field goal for nearly seven minutes. In that span, Warren built its biggest lead of the night taking a 56-41 lead on a layup by Boothe.
Boothe had his best game of the young season as he finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
The Blue Devils took command early and held a 14-9 lead after one quarter. Waukegan, which was led by Mississippi Valley State-bound senior Akeem Springs with 18 points used the long ball to rattle off 8 straight points and took the lead briefly at 27-23 late in the second quarter.