Warren wins a close one against Mundelein

It's been all about blowouts for the Warren girls basketball team.

The Blue Devils have either won big this season … or, they've lost big.

On Tuesday night, they finally got a nail-biter.

Two free throws by sophomore guard Jordyn Hughes were the difference in a 34-32 victory for Warren over visiting Mundelein. Hughes hit the free throws with just 10.5 seconds remaining.

Warren improves to 3-6 overall and 1-2 in the North Suburban Lake Division while Mundelein drops to 1-8 and 0-3 in the Lake.

"We haven't had a game like this in a while," said Hughes, who started on varsity last year as a freshman. "I think it was good for our team and building our confidence.

"It also tells us that we need to play hard the whole game, rather than giving half effort. If we have a lead, we need to focus on keeping it and building on it. If we're behind, we can't hang our heads down."

Warren, which got 13 points from Hughes and a game-high 17 points from sophomore Kaylen Dickson, had leads throughout the entire game, up by 11 points at halftime and as many as 10 points early in the fourth quarter.

But a half-court trap and some clutch free-throw shooting got Mundelein back into the game. A baseline jumper by Mundelein junior Sarah Ouimet tied the game at 32-32 with 30 seconds left.

After Hughes made her free throws, Mundelein had a chance for a last shot, but could never get a good look.

"It was intense and exciting because the game was going back and forth," said Mundelein senior guard Amy Richards, who went 4-for-4 at the line in the fourth quarter and finished with a team-high 11 points. "We knew we had a rough start. We just put our heads together and we were like, 'We can still do this, it's still a close game.' We just all worked really hard and pushed it."

Dickson certainly pushed hard for Warren. She scored 10 of her 17 points in the first half and was almost impossible to guard around the basket. She had a couple of runners in which she soared over everyone.

"Kaylen and Jordyn are second-year varsity players and they do a nice job," Warren coach John Stanczykiewicz said. "But sometimes they play to their youth and not their experience.

"We've got a lot to work on. We're a very young team. But you're never unhappy with a win."

First-year Mundelein coach Martin Pazanin was happy that his players never let up.

"We're still learning. We're really young and inexperienced," Pazanin said. "It was great to see the girls come back. I kind of laid into them at halftime and said that it was up to them if they believed they could play (with Warren) and I think they showed it in the second half."