Warren shuts down Grayslake Central
Warren senior forward Taylor Sheppard celebrated her birthday Wednesday.
So did her teammate and classmate, guard/forward Amanda Barger.
Both turned 18.
After Barger hit 6-of-8 free throws late in a 33-20 defeat of Grayslake Central in a Blue Devil Classic girls basketball game, she got hit.
By a post-game cupcake.
The food fighter?
Fitts.
Cheyenne Fitts, another teammate/classmate.
“She came from behind me; she got some frosting on my face (right cheek),” said Barger. “But I got Cheyenne back … got frosting all over her face.
“I won.”
How Warren essentially won on its home court Wednesday night, against a Rams team that had entered the game on an 11-game winning streak: Jessica Prince’s inside game.
Prince (12 rebounds) reigned in the paint, scoring a game-high 16 points, with 4 coming early in the third quarter — after Blue Devils coach John Stanczykiewicz challenged her at the half.
“I didn’t think she was as strong as she could have been in the first half,” he said of his 6-foot-3 senior. “She didn’t finish very well, either. But we called her number (54) on the first three possessions of the second half. She was strong. She finished.
“She did a heck of a job in the second half,” Stanczykiewicz added.
In the first half, Warren (7-5, 3-1 in the Classic) scored 2 points in the second quarter after leading 13-6 after one quarter.
Grayslake Central (11-3, 3-1 in the Classic) matched that deuce — in the third quarter.
Nets weren’t exactly turning into infernos Wednesday night in Gurnee.
“Offensively, we were stagnant,” Rams coach Steve Ikenn said, after lauding his club’s defensive showing. “But Warren had something to do with that. Warren’s zone, quick kids, long arms … and Prince in the middle.
“Warren,” he added, “took us out of our rhythm.”
Central hit its first two 3-point attempts, getting 1 from Sklyer Jessop (7 points) at 7:27 of the first quarter and the other from Claire Brennan at 5:52. Birthday girl Barger (9 points, 5 assists, 4 steals) netted a trey to put Warren up 9-6.
The Blue Devils limited the Rams to only 5 field goals thereafter.
“I’m happy for the kids, and proud of them,” said Stanczykiewicz. “We played well and we controlled the tempo. At the beginning of the season, we had a hard time finding our identity, even with all the seniors (9) we have. We were forcing things, offensively and defensively.
“Tonight,” he added, “was a good team win. I liked what I saw from our starters and our benchers.”
Blue Devils junior forward Alyssa Phillips, a starter, finished with 8 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks. Her biggest bucket: a put-back, after a missed free throw in the final frame.
That made it 26-16, Warren.
GLC sophomore center Morgan Dahlstrom (6 points, 7 boards) scored the next 4 points.
But Warren tallied the game’s last 7 points — 5 via Barger freebies.
“Teamwork … We won because of our teamwork,” Barger said. “We also kept our composure.
“If we play hard, we can be one of the best teams around.”
If Blue Devils get the ball to Prince, and she consistently executes her nearly unstoppable post move — bounce ball quickly, pivot, go straight up, bank ball in — Warren wins way more than it loses.
“We got the ball inside, and we used our bigs to our advantage,” said Prince, UW-Milwaukee-bound.
Warren’s rebound advantage Wednesday night: big. The Blue Devils came down with 33 boards to Central’s 18.
“I’m kind of upset we won’t get to play a game for another week (after tonight’s Classic game),” said Stanczykiewicz. “We’re playing well right now, in a pretty good rhythm.”
Warren faces Carmel in its Classic finale at 6 p.m. today; Grayslake Central battles Niles North at 7:30 p.m.