Smith, Z-B dunk Devils

Missing two brawny post players was a big deal.

And then in case Warren's shorthanded boys basketball team wasn't feeling short enough, Lenzelle Smith undoubtedly drove home the point, while driving.

Zion-Benton's sweet sophomore soared over 6-foot-5 Scott Geske as if he were a fire hydrant and threw down a left-handed dunk.

Smith's late-third-quarter jam put Zion-Benton's fans on their feet, and the Zee-Bees pulled away in the fourth en route to a 71-63 win in Gurnee on Thursday night.

"It was nasty," said Geske, who earlier in the third was successful in drawing a Z-B offensive foul. "I was trying to take a charge, but he just jumped over me."

With the win, Zion-Benton (20-3, 6-2) jumped back into a first-place tie with Stevenson in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division.

Warren (10-7, 4-5) received a game-high 32 points from guard Brandon Paul, but played without 6-4 James Poliquin and 6-3 Tayler Erbach.

Poliquin has been sick all week, missing three days of school. Erbach, the only returning starter off last year's sectional-championship squad, left the team.

Without them, the four players Warren used in the post against Z-B combined for 2 defensive rebounds.

"It definitely affects our depth because we can't extend the game as much as we could before," Geske said. "And if we get in foul trouble, that also hurts us."

What mainly hurt Warren against Zion-Benton was the Zee-Bees' athleticism. Point guard Ronald Steward scored a team-best 20 points and had 6 of the Zee-Bees' 15 steals.

"He's a tremendous player," Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said. "He does everything very, very well -- what you'd want out of a point guard."

The 6-3 Smith added 18 points, Quintrell Love scored 14 coming off the bench, and Rodney Clinkscales contributed 10. Antonio Stewart grabbed 9 rebounds.

Smith's electrifying dunk over Geske put Z-B up 46-40. While Warren got 4 free throws from Paul on one play thanks to a personal foul and technical foul, Love's layup had the visitors ahead 48-44 after three.

Warren never led in the game. The Blue Devils trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and got within one in the third.

"We just kind of did what we wanted to do on defense, and we executed halfway decent on offense when we needed to," Geske said of the Blue Devils' ability to stay in the game. "When we needed a bucket, we could always get it."

Usually it was thanks to Paul, who finished 9 of 20 from the floor (three 3-pointers) and 11 of 15 from the foul line.

Warren tried to make one more push in the fourth, but another left-handed dunk by Smith, this one while being chased by Eric Williams, kept the Blue Devils at bay.

Williams and David Duncan each had 8 points coming off the bench for Warren.

"We just could not consistently get stops," Ramsey said. "We're not going to score every time down the floor. When we got it down to one there, we were in pretty good position. But they scored just about every time they got the ball for the next couple, three minutes or so."