Warren celebrates Stanczykiewicz's 300th win
As its way of acknowledging girls basketball coach John Stanczykiewicz for recently winning his 300th game, Warren gave him several gifts before Saturday night's tipoff against Highland Park.
By game's end, his players nearly presented him something else.
A heart attack.
Up 12 with less than two minutes left in a low-scoring nonconference game, Warren saw the visitors pull within 3, before hanging on for a 42-37 win.
"We told the girls, 'It's a good thing that we survived that and now we know how to handle another game situation,' " said Stanczykiewicz, who before the game received a plaque, the stat sheet from his 300th win (against Grayslake Central on Dec. 26) and game ball, and a player-autographed basketball from the 2004-05 Warren team that went downstate.
"It's also a valuable lesson on how quickly the floor can turn," Stanczykiewicz added. "It was all going our way for a good part of that third and early fourth quarter. We were up 12. All it takes is one shot. And then 12 becomes nine, nine becomes six, and six becomes three in a matter of a minute. Not even."
Sydney Levenfeld's 3-pointer with 1:40 left sparked Highland Park's comeback after Warren built a 39-27 lead. Then after a Warren turnover, Kiera Thorpe (5 points, 9 rebounds) split two free throws. The Giants grabbed the missed second toss and Levenfeld (team-high 12 points) drained another 3. That made it seven points in 10 seconds for Highland Park, pulling the Giants within 39-34 with 1:30 remaining.
"We were told to face-guard No. 13 (Levenfeld) with no help off," Warren guard Sammi Jo Nixon said. "She's a great shooter. There was a mistake and then we fouled, and we lost hold of it. They made a couple of 3s in a row and just got back into it. We had to hold our ground."
Jordyn Hughes made 1 of 2 free throws to put Warren up six, but Dahlia Cohen (9 points) knocked down her third 3-pointer to trim the Warren lead to 40-37 with 52 seconds left.
Nixon was eventually fouled with 18.9 seconds on the clock and swished a pair of high-arching free throws.
No sweat.
"You got to have some nerves, right?" Nixon, who finished with 7 points, said with a laugh. "I like it. That's why we play sports."
Hughes led all scorers with 13 points. The 5-foot-9 freshman also grabbed 5 rebounds and took 2 charges. She's Warren's leading scorer this season and has enjoyed playing for Stanczykiewicz.
"I like to be pushed," said Hughes, a Year 2000 baby, who wasn't born yet when Stanczykiewicz started coaching Warren's girls team. "I like the pressure, especially coming up freshman year. He's been really supportive of me and so have my teammates in helping me adjust to varsity basketball."
Stanczykiewicz is in his 16th season as Warren's coach. Saturday night's win, which saw the hosts grab the lead for good early in the second quarter, was his 301st and hiked the Blue Devils' record to 6-10. He deflected credit for his reaching the 300-victory milestone.
"You don't win 300 games by yourself," Stanczykiewicz said. "I didn't play one game. I didn't take one shot. I didn't get one rebound. I have been and continue to be extremely fortunate to coach a lot of great kids, really talented kids."