Coleman crew has North Chicago cooking

At practice, it's "Coach."

At games, it's "Coach."

Everywhere else, also "Coach."

That's what North Chicago senior guard Pierce Coleman calls his head coach, Gerald Coleman, who is also his great uncle.

"Even at Thanksgiving dinner, he calls me Coach," Gerald Coleman said with a chuckle. "Same at Christmas dinner. If he sees me on the street, it's Coach, not uncle."

Pierce Coleman is good with that.

He spent his entire childhood dreaming of playing for his great uncle. To him, Gerald Coleman has always been "Coach."

"Coach" was a proud Coach, and also probably a proud uncle on Saturday afternoon.

Pierce Coleman poured in a game-high 23 points to lead North Chicago to a 79-66 Northern Lake County Conference win over host Wauconda.

"I was in the gym all the time, watching North Chicago basketball when I was a kid," Coleman said. "I used to go to practices and I was the water boy during games.

"It's unreal to be finally playing (varsity) and to play for Coach. He pushes all of us and he's pushing me to be a better player so I can get to the next level. He's tough on me, but I can handle it."

Gerald Coleman, whose team is now 4-2 on the season, has coached all three of his kids, including his daughter. Years ago, he was the North Chicago girls head coach for six seasons.

He's coached his two sons in high school and had his grandson in the program two years ago. Now, it's his great nephew.

"Just to help them be a part of something that their grandfather (and great uncle) does, that's awesome really," Gerald Coleman said.

North Chicago was down 22-20 at the end of the first quarter but then went on a binge to start the second quarter. The Warhawks reeled off 11 straight points before Wauconda finally scored on a couple of free throws. That put North Chicago up 31-24.

Coleman had 7 points in the second quarter for North Chicago, which was up 47-36 at halftime.

North Chicago extended its lead to 15 points in the third quarter and again, Coleman came up big. He scored 10 points in the quarter.

"The second quarter, they had that 13-point advantage and that's when their pressure ramped up," Wauconda coach Scott Luetschwager said. "But when we were able to push the ball and play our tempo, we were in a good spot. Being up 22-20 at the end of the first quarter, I thought our kids played hard."

Wauconda (1-7, 1-2 NLCC) was forced into 15 turnovers on the game, but Luetschwager was actually not bothered by that.

"North Chicago's pressure is always the best pressure we see all year," Luetschwager said. "You can't simulate that in practice. With their running and jumping with their pressure, it's tough but I thought our kids reacted well. Most years, we're turning the ball over a lot to North Chicago. Like 30 turnovers sometimes to them some years, maybe 15 at halftime. To have a full game at 15, I give our guys a lot of credit."

Luetschwager also gave credit to Matt O'Brien, who gave solid minutes off the bench and Jimmy Ott, who was a hustler until he had to leave the game with the head injury.

Connor Brannick topped Wauconda with 14 points while O'Brien added 11 points.

"We've had some close games this season that we just haven't been able to finish," Brannick said. "They (the Warhawks) started hitting shots and we had trouble hitting our shots. I had trouble hitting shots, but I did get to the line."

North Chicago also got double-figures out of Tyrek Cooper, who had 20 points, including three 3-pointers.