Rams celebrate with win

Megan LeBaron claimed she and her Grayslake Central basketball teammates had cookies to celebrate coach Roger Lass' birthday Saturday.

That wasn't their only gift.

The Rams gave their coach a victory - 42-32 over host Warren on Day 1 of the Blue Devil Classic in Gurnee.

"Even better," LeBaron said.

All wins are good, especially for a team that suffered 20 losses last season and started this season by losing five of its first seven.

"We're happy to win against Warren because they're a good team," said LeBaron, who posted game bests of 15 points and 8 rebounds.

Both Grayslake Central (4-5) and Warren (4-7) entered the game showing signs of improvement. The Rams, who started the season with veteran guards Katelynn Putkonen and Alison Metzger slowed by injuries, snapped a four-game losing streak earlier in the week.

The Blue Devils had won three straight before suffering a loss to a good Lake Park team in their previous game.

Warren did little well Saturday, however, especially on the offensive end. Never mind that the Blue Devils played without Megan Kilroy (sprained knee) and Tiffany Bembry (sprained foot).

"We just didn't show up," coach John Stanczykiewicz said. "We didn't have a good week of practice. We had two days off for final exams, but that's not an excuse because everyone else has final exams. We didn't handle the week well. We didn't prepare well, and we didn't play well. One leads to the other, and the net result is what we saw today."

Still, Warren got a 3-pointer from Kim O'Leary and a driving layup from Alexis Leneau to pull within 29-27 early in the fourth quarter. The Rams countered with baskets from Alex Scarbro and Metzger, starting an 11-1 run that also included a basket and 3 free throws from LeBaron.

"When they started making their run, we just had to keep our composure, and we did," said LeBaron, who was 5 of 6 from the line in the fourth. "We just tried to slow it down because we had a lead and we wanted to keep it. From there, we just outhustled them and worked hard."

Kat Dickson added 9 points and 5 rebounds for the winners.

While the Rams committed 23 turnovers, the Blue Devils had the same amount.

"Defensively, we played real well," Lass said. "At the end, we handled the ball real well. (Warren) got it down to four and we didn't lose our composure or anything. We just did what we do and got (the lead) back up."

Warren got 6 points and 3 steals from D'Anequa Taylor.

"We'd played so well the last two weeks," Stanczykiewicz said. "To come out and play like this tonight is very disappointing."