N. Chicago no match for inspired N. Lawndale

North Lawndale starting junior forward Jermaine Winfield still has a bullet lodged in the back of his thigh, where he was shot earlier this year.

Phoenix all-state senior forward Jonathan Mills missed games, including his team's regional final, after allegedly cheating on a school test. And fellow senior John Taylor has endured serious illness within his family.

Perhaps no basketball team appreciates what it has more than North Lawndale, a Chicago school that apparently isn't going to let anything off the court faze it as it tries to earn a state championship for the second year in a row.

The Phoenix used a stifling defensive effort and balanced scoring attack to shut down high-scoring North Chicago 87-46 in the teams' Class 3A supersectional at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates on Tuesday night.

Taylor led all scorers with 17 points, as North Lawndale (29-5), which won the Class 2A state title last year, earned a berth in Friday's noon state semifinal against Champaign Centennial, a 65-60 winner over Belleville Althoff, in Peoria.

"We have been through a lot, our entire team," North Lawndale coach Lewis Thorpe said. "It's been an emotional roller coaster for us, and we're using that as fuel to get us over the hump, hopefully."

"They're very good, they're very strong, they're quick, and their experience showed," said North Chicago coach Gerald Coleman, whose Warhawks were led by reserve Aaron Simpson's 12 points (two 3-pointers). Sacramento State-bound Keith Ford added 10 points and 8 rebounds, while Joshua Wright had 11 boards and a soaring dunk.

A basket by Ford pulled the Warhawks within 12-9, but North Lawndale finished the opening quarter with a flurry - including jams by Mills (8 points, 7 rebounds), Paul Bunch (12 points, 8 blocks) and Terry Johnson (10 points, 6 steals) in the final 40 seconds.

Another dunk by the 6-foot-11, 244-pound Bunch capped a 12-0 run early in the second quarter and extended the Phoenix's lead to 24-9.

North Chicago never got closer than 11 points after that.

"It was amazing," Johnson, a transfer from St. Rita, said of his team's late opening-quarter run. "I think it really gave our team confidence that we could really go out and win this game."

North Lawndale - which had 10 steals, including 5 by Johnson, in the first quarter - helped force North Chicago into a highly uncharacteristic 26 turnovers for the game.

"We knew they would trap us," Coleman said. "We had to be tough with the ball, and we didn't do it tonight."

"I know they're very quick and they have excellent guard play, (but) I thought our guards could play them to a standstill," Thorpe said. "I thought our bigs had an advantage for us. I thought that was a key to the game today."