Chambers' long 3 sparks Warren against Mundelein
Now if a half-court shot can win you a car, what does a three-quarters quart shot do for you?
If not some fancy merchandise, it seems like it should at least be worth 5 points for such a long-distance basket.
Warren senior Maurice Chambers picked up the play-by-play on his lengthy bucket:
“There were about 3 seconds before the end of the quarter,'' Chambers said. “I took a dribble and I thought I have to get the shot off. And then I thought, man it's on line. Yep — it went in.”
On paper it was home-standing Warren with its two wins on the season and Mundelein in search of its first victory.
So when Warren grabbed a quick 7-0 lead, no one blinked an eye. And then the Mustangs tied it just before the first quarter ended.
But on Chambers' miracle shot, the Devils (3-7) broke open this close game. Mundelein (0-8) showed some fight but the Devils prevailed 57-40 in Friday night's North Suburban Lake Division clash.
“That shot sure gave us a boost,'' said Warren coach Jon Jasnoch. “And then we made a few defensive stands that gave us some easy shots in transition.”
Mundelein missed its first 7 shots of the game, and the one-two punch of Chambers (11 points) and Juwan Perry (9 points) did all the scoring for Warren in the opening quarter.
A bank shot from Tommy Marcotte (10 points) broke the Warren shutout with three minutes to play. Again, poor shooting to open the second quarter put the Mustangs in a hole.
“We are playing five sophomores,'' said Mundelein coach Corey Knigge. “And we did some good things. But we are still waiting for bad things to happen.”
Two of those Mundelein sophomores can bring the height. Both 6-foot-5 Jeff Bikus and 6-6 Andrew Silva showed flashes of real talent. Bikus hit the first of his game-high three 3-pointers for Mundelein's first score of the second quarter, cutting the Warren lead to 20-10. Another Chambers 3, this time from his side of the court, helped build the Warren halftime lead to 29-12.
Warren's help in the height department comes from 6-7 sophomore Declan O'Connor (7 points, 8 rebounds).
Josh Pelland is another inside threat for Warren. He stands 6-4 and finished with 10 points.
“We have a new coach,'' Pelland said of Jasnoch. “He's trying to change the culture here. And we are getting better every week. We are really coming together.”
As the third quarter kicked off, the big men from both sides began to contribute. O'Conner had back-to-back hoops and Silva scored 6 of his 8 points in the period.
Knigge pointed out that Silva is getting the rust off after some injuries the past few years.
Warren's lead after three quarter looked solid at 46-23. But Bikus found the range from 3-point land and the Warren lead was down to 48-36 before the Blue Devils put the game away at the free throw line.