Boys basketball: Waukegan upsets defending NSC champ Warren
Warren knows it will get everyone’s best shot this season.
Waukegan got its opportunity right away to avenge three losses to the defending North Suburban Conference champions before a huge and raucous crowd Wednesday night in Gurnee.
And the Bulldogs’ X-factor, senior Xavi Granville, and junior Adrian Serrano delivered the biggest shots down the stretch as they pulled away to a 72-62 victory.
“I didn’t even realize how big the crowd was until I looked up at the stands,” said Granville, the transfer from Grayslake Central who had 13 of his 19 points and 6 of his 8 rebounds after halftime. “I was just focused on the game.”
Especially on his 3-pointer from the left corner off Serrano’s feed that put Waukegan (4-0, 1-0) ahead to stay at 61-59 and started a 14-3 tear in the final 2:13.
“I caught it right on the seam and knew it was going in,” Granville said.
Serrano (9 points) and Carter Newsome (8 points), who fouled out with 2:48 left, combined to limit Warren (4-1, 0-1) sophomore star Jaxson Davis to 14 points on 3-for-16 shooting from the field. Davis had 6 assists and 6 rebounds and hit 2 free throws at 2:24 for a 59-58 lead.
But in the 30 seconds before that, Warren went 1-for-5 at the line after a technical foul and a foul on a 3-pointer.
“There were a couple of times where it looked like we were going to get it together and extend the lead,” said Warren coach Zack Ryan. “They had a lot of timely scores and we didn’t have a lot of timely stops.”
That was the case as Jaali Love (12 points, 12 rebounds) hit a free throw at 1:55 for Waukegan. Then Granville found Serrano in the right corner for a 3 that hit the back rim and bounced through and Serrano got a breakout off a miss for a 67-59 lead at 1:09.
Davis hit a 3 at 0:47 to cut it to 67-62 but junior Simereon Carter (20 points, 9 rebounds) hit 3 of 4 free throws to start the celebration for Waukegan.
“What we wanted to do all game manifested itself late,” said Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw. “What we wanted to do made the difference down the stretch.”
Warren used a 15-2 tear late in the first half for a 31-22 lead that was capped by senior Javerion Banks’ steal and one-hand slam. Banks had 16 points and 4 assists after missing the Grant tournament with a hip injury.
“He looked good and having him back is helpful,” Ryan said. “We have to get all of us on the same page and we’ll figure it out. We knew they (Waukegan) were going to be good.”