Warren times it perfectly vs. Lake Forest

Surrounded by a trio of Lake Forest defenders after fumbling his dribble during a fourth-quarter fastbreak and then picking the basketball up, Warren guard JoVaughn Gaines threaded a no-look pass to teammate Darius Paul under the basket.

But before Paul could flip up a layup attempt, Warren coach Chuck Ramsey called timeout.

“I was afraid there was going to be a turnover,” Ramsey said. “It looked like a dangerous spot.”

Blown whistles were about the only thing that could stop the Blue Devils during the second half of Tuesday night's Class 4A sectional semifinal at Barrington.

Up only one at halftime, Warren dominated the second half en route to a 51-35 win, earning the top-seeded Blue Devils a berth in Friday night's sectional final against the winner of tonight's game between No. 3 Mundelein and No. 2 St. Viator at Barrington.

“(Coach) said this could be our last half so let's play hard,” said Darius Paul, who led Warren (25-3) with 19 points, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks and 6 assists.

Paul sparked the Blue Devils' second-half charge. He twice found Mitch Munda (10 points) for layups and later fed 6-foot-9 Nathan Boothe (13 points) for a 3-pointer that hiked Warren's lead to 31-21 with 4:14 left in the third. Jameris Smith also fed Munda for a layup in transition.

“We were just running our flex cut and kept giving it to Mitch,” Paul said. “It was open three times in a row. Then we found Nate on a flex screen, and he got a 3. After that, we just played good defense and we got stops.”

Paul's third quarter included a pair of field goals, 4 blocked shots, 3 assists and a steal. When Gaines hit a fadeaway 17-footer to beat the buzzer, Warren had itself a 37-29 lead entering the fourth.

“(Warren) came out with a little fire (after halftime),” Lake Forest coach Phil LaScala said. “I think the biggest thing was, we had, what 6 turnovers in the first half? And then all of a sudden it was bam, bam, bam — turnover, turnover, turnover. When you turn it over against that team, it's layups. They are relentless.”

Fifth-seeded Lake Forest, which got no closer than eight points in the fourth quarter after playing Warren close the entire first half, finished 18-11. Sam Downey, a 6-8 junior, came off the bench to score a team-high 7 points for the Scouts, who won 14 of their last 18 games.

“When we were 4-7, there were some sleepless nights,” LaScala said. “The coaching staff and the kids weren't happy. The kids did a great job of turning it around. I told them, ‘There was no way in heck I thought we would be a (No.) 5 seed with how good our sectional is.' ”

While Warren shot 46 percent (21 of 46), Lake Forest hit at only a 39-percent clip (17 of 44). The Scouts were 0 of 8 from beyond the arc.

“That's a big stat because they got some good three-point shooters,” Ramsey said. “Our kids did a good job of covering that.”

Three Scouts — 6-9 Creighton Titus, 6-7 freshman Evan Boudreaux and 6-4 Thomas Durrett — scored 6 points each. A three-point play by Downey and a basket by Durrett had Lake Forest within 20-19 at the break.

“It took us a while to get going,” Ramsey said. “Credit Lake Forest. They played really well. That's a very good team. They're a team that can match for us for size, and they're skilled players.”

In the end, like in 58-47 and 50-38 decisions over Lake Forest during the regular season, Warren's skill won out.

“They're probably one of the biggest teams in our state,” said Lake Forest senior point guard John Hayes, who had 4 points and 3 steals. “They play very well defensively and they really get after it. They have a great point guard (Smith). They have great role players. Everyone knows their role, and it works for them.”