Paul’s amazing game delights Warren
The Twitter world exploded Tuesday in the wake of the huge upset staged by the Illinois men’s basketball team over fifth-ranked Ohio State.
Specifically, tweeters were chirping about Brandon Paul and his remarkable performance, which is being widely categorized as “once-in-a-lifetime” and “one of the best in Big Ten history.”
Paul, who starred at Warren and was named Illinois Mr. Basketball in 2009, scored 43 points on just 15 shots and hit 8-of-10 three-pointers. He also came up with 4 emphatic blocks on the defensive end.
Big Ten Network analyst Tim Doyle “tweeted” that it was the “best Big Ten performance I have ever seen.”
For Warren coach Chuck Ramsey, though, it’s nothing he hasn’t seen before. He’s used to the spectacular when it comes to Paul.
“I don’t think he ever had a game at Warren quite like the one he had against Ohio State,” Ramsey said of Paul. “But during his senior year, he definitely had some practices like that.
“We’d be scrimmaging and he just couldn’t miss. He’d be hitting long 3-pointers, everything. It didn’t matter what the defense did against him, he just did whatever he wanted. Even when he was well-defended, he’d hit tough shots. It was just him putting on a highlight show.”
Some of Paul’s highlights during Illinois’ 79-74 win over Ohio State included fade-away 3-pointers and monster blocks. His 4 blocks were a career-high and he also had 2 steals.
During one sequence, Paul hit a 3-pointer as he was falling into the Illini bench, then he stuffed preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Jared Sullinger on the next play.
“Brandon was just awesome,” Ramsey said. “He really put it all together and got on such a roll. It’s a lot of fun to see his growth and development, and it’s inspiring because you know how hard he’s worked to get there. Brandon obviously has amazing, almost freakish athletic ability, but he’s also worked really hard to get to where he is.
“I’m so glad to see a Warren Blue Devil achieving at such a high level.”
Gaylor gone
Lost in the holiday shuffle is that fact that Grant is now playing without one of its best players.
For undisclosed reasons, senior forward Jerry Gaylor is no longer with the team. The Bulldogs have been playing without him since their mid-December home victory over Antioch.
Known for his athleticism, jumping ability and thunderous dunks, Gaylor had been up on the varsity since his freshman year and had been one of the top scorers on the team for most of his career.
“It’s weird not playing with him because he’s been with us forever,” Grant senior forward Jared Helmich said after one of Grant’s holiday tournament games. “I can’t say that we’re better without him because he’s such a good player. We’re just trying to move forward and come together. Everyone is trying to step up and fill his spot.”
The Bulldogs are faring pretty well as they try.
They won their holiday tournament for just the second time since it began in 2006 and they’ve gotten on a decent roll. Since Gaylor has been out, Grant has won six of its last eight games, including Tuesday’s 75-68 road victory over Barrington.
Coaching call-up
Players aren’t the only ones who can be a reserve one day and a starter the next.
Vernon Hills assistant coach Colin Mason unexpectedly found himself in the hot seat over the holidays. He became the Cougars’ head coach for a game at the Wheeling Wildcat Hardwood Classic when head coach Matt McCarty came down with a sudden bout of stomach flu and stayed home in bed.
Mason strolled the sidelines for Vernon Hills’ first round game against Notre Dame. The Cougars suffered a loss, but pushed the defending tournament champions from start to finish.
“I’ve been coaching high school basketball for 12 years and this was my first time being a head coach,” Mason said. “I was nervous. But it’s such a great group of kids, I knew they would execute the game plan. I thought they did a great job.”
Mason also received similar kudos. From McCarty.
“Coach Mason stepped in and did a great job for us,” McCarty said. “Everything ran smoothly and even though we lost, he had our guys playing and competing hard against a very good Notre Dame team.”
The Cougars kept that theme going through the rest of their games at Wheeling and wound up playing in the consolation championship game.
“We were determined to have a better showing at Wheeling,” McCarty said. “Last year, we were 10-0 going into the tournament and then we lost three games there. I think the guys wanted to go out and prove that last year shouldn’t have happened.”
Wood ’n boards
Part of the reason Vernon Hills was able to put a stop to Grant’s five-game winning streak last week was that Jarrett Wood was a monster on the boards.
The gritty, 6-foot-4 senior forward pulled down 13 rebounds against the Bulldogs in Vernon Hills’ 53-52 win.
“We knew we had to control the boards because Grant has some really good rebounders in (Jared) Helmich, (Ilya) Kadushin and (Brandon) Lombardino,” Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. “Jarrett really stepped up to that challenge. We knew he would because I think Jarrett really likes that role of being our big rebounder and tough defender.
“He finished as the leader in rebounds for the entire tournament at Wheeling over Christmas and he’s probably averaging about 10 rebounds per game. I heard a lot of coaches at Wheeling commenting on his desire to go up and get those boards. Jarrett is also a really tough, strong football player and I think he brings that football mentality to basketball.”
Not this again
Grant won its own holiday tournament by overcoming a 22-point late second-half deficit to Lakes.
In the teams’ rematch a week later, Lakes again found itself with a big lead at the end of the third quarter. The Eagles were up by 17 points, 50-33.
“We talked in the huddle (before the start of the fourth quarter) about how we know they can come back from something like that,” Lakes coach Chris Snyder said of Grant. “Our guys were determined to show that they can finish off a game. You could tell that they did not want to let up the lead again.
“Losing that (championship) game to Grant was really tough. But I think in a way it kind of brought our guys together because they all needed to pick each other up.”
Blain with the bling-bling
One big basket after another.
That’s what senior guard Tanner Blain gave Lakes last week in a huge rebound win over Grant, and it’s what the Eagles have been waiting for out of their sharp-shooter.
The Eagles were coming off a crushing loss the week before to Grant in which they wasted a 22-point third quarter lead. Blain’s 17 points, including 3 three-pointers, helped Lakes win in the rematch just eight days later.
“He came up big for us in that Grant win. He hit a lot of big shots,” Lakes coach Chris Snyder said of Blain. “Tanner was kind of in a little bit of a shooting slump earlier in the season. The nice thing was that even though some of his shots weren’t falling, he kept doing so many other things for us. He was playing great defense and he was being a leader for us.
“It’s good to see him break through now with his shot. “
Baby Bear shows claws
Lake Zurich freshman Mike Travelos wasted no time making a name for himself on varsity.
He was called up over the holidays to provide some depth when senior guard Justin Peterson broke his ankle.
Travelos wound up getting quite a bit of playing time during the Bears’ holiday tournament games in Pekin and then he found himself on the court during last weekend’s North Suburban Lake Division game against Stevenson in key moments.
A sharp-shooter from long range, Travelos finished with a career-high 11 points, including a 3-pointers, to help the Bears get a win over Stevenson.
“He’s doing a great job of stepping in and he’s shooting really well,” Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher said of Travelos. “He’s the first freshman up on the varsity at Lake Zurich in a long time.”
The last Lake Zurich freshman pulled up to varsity was another Mike. That would be the Bears’ all-time leading scorer, Mike Kolze. He was up as a freshman in 2001.