Porter pours in 22 as Deerfield tops LZ
Eric Porter’s Friday was going so smoothly.
The Deerfield sophomore guard woke up, watched tape of the Warriors’ win on Wednesday and shot around at the team’s morning shoot-around.
Most people shopped on Black Friday.
Porter, before donning an all-black uniform for an Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic boys basketball game at Palatine, hopped.
And launched jump shot after jump shot at his school’s gym.
“No shopping for me today,” he would say later.
Skipping a trip to a mall, for the 5-foot-9 Porter: priceless.
The sharpshooting Warrior poured in 19 of his game-high 22 points in the second half of Deerfield’s 45-37 afternoon defeat of Lake Zurich.
He netted 3 of his 4 treys — and struck for 68 percent of his team’s offense — after halftime.
But Porter’s Friday wasn’t entirely snag-free.
Mr. Locked In’s combination lock would not cooperate after the victory.
“It’s jammed,” he said, as he exited a locker room to discuss his sizzling performance.
Somebody, finally, solved Porter’s slight problem, after LZ (1-2) had a difficult time defending Porter and taking advantage of its superior height.
“We knew what the scouting report was,” Bears coach Billy Pitcher said. “But we didn’t follow it. Deerfield got way too many wide-open 3s, after dribble-driving on us.
“We have to do a better job of guarding the ball, and we can’t miss as many layups and bunnies as we did today. This is a shot-making game; we didn’t make our shots.”
The teams combined for only 12 baskets in the first half. A bucket by LZ senior forward Jeff O’Brien (8 points, 6 rebounds), at 1:33 of the second quarter, made it 17-17.
That also was the score at the half.
“Our plan was to come out, speed the game up,” said Warriors first-year coach JJ Pearl, a Niles North grad. “I have to credit Lake Zurich … Lake Zurich did a good job of not allowing us to do that in the first half.”
Porter, held scoreless in Deerfield’s season-opening 55-44 loss to Waubonsie Valley on Monday, scored the first 2 points of the second half before the Bears got back-to-back field goals from O’Brien and senior forward Mirko Grcic (team highs of 13 points and 14 boards).
Porter then tallied 7 straight points, including a 3, to put Deerfield (2-1) up 26-21 at 3:29.
“He can shoot, and he’s not afraid to shoot,” Pearl said. “Here’s the other thing about Eric: He’s always ready to shoot, no matter where he is on the court.”
LZ trailed only 32-30 early in the final frame, thanks to a basket by senior forward Doug Murphy (6 points, 3 rebounds).
Porter, though, still had furnaces for hands. The Warrior scored 8 points (2 3s, 1 field goal) in a 2:07 span and, just like that, his club was up 42-33.
“We didn’t communicate well (on defense) and we didn’t box out well,” admitted LZ junior guard John Repplinger, a valuable reserve. “We did a pretty good job getting offensive rebounds, but we didn’t finish well.”
LZ senior guard Brenden Seeger, another reserve, hit a 3 to cut Deerfield’s lead to 42-37 with 50 ticks left. Pitcher immediately called for a timeout.
Hope had returned for LZ.
But Deerfield made three free throws to seal the win.
“Our kids … to do what they did today, while being outsized, had to be resilient,” said Pearl.
Deerfield’s tallest starter Friday was 6-3 sophomore forward Michael Alfieri (6 points, 8 boards). The heights of LZ’s frontcourt players resembled the score of a suspended tennis match: 6-3, 6-3, 6-6.