Perry's late bucket lifts Warren past Libertyville

Warren guard Juwan Perry had seen this play before.

As in, his Blue Devils get off to a good start in most every game - and then the other team fires back and usually overtakes Warren.

That might explain how Warren had 3 wins coming into its game at Libertyville on Tuesday night.

And yes, according to script, Warren (4-9) held a double-digit lead early in the third quarter. But the home-standing Wildcats came back and, with less than a minute to play, grabbed the lead back.

Perry, however, wrote a different ending this time. His driving layup with 2.6 seconds to play in regulation proved to be the game-winner as Warren upset Libertyville 55-54.

"Corey Ball got the rebound,'' Perry explained. "And I saw the opening. Maybe this game was the spurt we need to get back to .500."

Amazingly, the Wildcats had completed their comeback and even grabbed a 3-point lead in the final quarter - all with making a lone field goal. Only Ben Kimpler's driving layup prevented the Cats from being shut out from the field. Instead, the Cats made that ground up on the foul line; Libertyville (9-5) shot 17 foul shots in the final quarter.

"I was a little worried because Warren had some good ballplayers,'' said Libertyville coach Brent Mork. "There were no excuses. We came out with no energy. And then we started to get to the rim."

Perry (16 points) had a personal 7-point run early in the third quarter as the Warren lead stretched to 36-23.

"We started by coming out playing good defense,'' Perry said. "We had all the momentum. And then we started to blow it again."

And when Warren's shooting finally cooled off, the Cats took full advantage.

"Libertyville is such a good team,'' said Warren coach Jon Jasnoch. "They have good shooters who can attack the basket."

The Devils had no answer for the inside play of Kempler. The senior seemingly scored at will in the third quarter. In the meantime, the fouls increased and Warren lost two players who fouled out.

In the early going, Libertyville had trouble at the free throw line.

But down the stretch in the fourth quarter, the Cats made eight shots in a row.

A Perry 3-point play gave his Warren team a 50-47 lead at the three-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Jabari Quigley answered back with 2 free throws and Libertyville had the lead back at 53-52.

"It came down to execution,'' Mork said. "We needed to secure the loose balls. It's the little details that matter."

Improving inside threat Declan O'Connor added 11 points for Warren, and Maurice Chambers had 8 points, including one fancy layin in the fourth quarter. His teammate, Jayson Dorsey, also had 8 points.

Supporting Kimpler for the Cats were Drew Peterson (14 points) and Paul Steinhaus (11 points).