Boys basketball: Warren shakes off slow start, wins again

Warren hit a cold spell Wednesday night in Lake Zurich.

But the Blue Devils were still able to do enough to warm up with a 67-55 win over the Bears to remain atop the North Suburban Conference.

“Our shots didn’t fall like they had been the last few games,” Warren coach Zach Ryan said. “ A lot of that had to do with Lake Zurich. We just looked a little sluggish and sometimes that happens when shots don’t fall. You have to figure out how to win in other ways and we did.”

Jaxson Davis was one of the Warren players who had a tough night from the field. The junior did finish with 15 points. He was 7-of-19 from the field, with most of his made baskets coming on drives to the basket.

“I feel like I’ve been always able to impact winning the games,” Davis said. “It just wasn’t with my shooting. I felt that I was handling the ball and making the right reads. We also forced some turnovers because we honed in on film and we knew they liked to get that early entry pass, so we just went about trying to deny it.”

There was no denying that the Blue Devils’ Braylon Walker picked up some of the shooting slack from his teammates. The senior was 8-of-12 from the field and led his team with 20 points.

“The shots weren’t falling so I was looking to just to get to the basket or find other ways to score. We had to deal with some adversity as a team and I just had to do whatever I could to help us get the win.”

Warren (15-1, 5-0) used 12 first half turnovers to help the Blue Devils scrape their way to a 34-25 halftime advantage.

Warren struggled early against a spirited Lake Zurich team. The Bears (7-10, 2-4) were able to get to an 11-11 tie midway through the first quarter on a four-point play by Adrian Riep.

Sparked by a pair of baskets by Cassius Collins, Warren scored the next five points on their way to a 9-2 run and a 20-12 lead. The Blue Devils looked like we’re going to run away with it when they opened up a 30-16 lead midway through the second quarter.

Lake Zurich then turned up the defensive pressure, forcing Warren to shoot from long range. Meanwhile the Bears were getting to basket as they closed out the half on a 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 34-25.

But that’s as close as Lake Zurich would get the entire night as the Warren lead stayed between 10 and 14 points in the second half.

Collin’s added 10 points for Warren while Tayte Cordova came off the bench to score 8 points.

Lake Zurich, which has won three of its last five games since the return of Evan Peterson at point guard, was led by Kain Kretschmar, who had 20 points and 6 rebounds. Riep had 14 points while Peterson chipped in 8 points.

“I thought we executed really well offensively,” Lake Zurich coach Terry Coughlin said. “But, we had a window there where we missed 8 layups, were 5-of-10 from the free throw line and were turning the ball over. When you are playing a top five team in the state, you have to convert the easy opportunities. Despite that, I was pleased with what our kids did tonight.”