Vernon Hills can't catch up to Deerfield

Vernon Hills' boys basketball team was in search of a victory in its home opener, but trying to deal with the height and length of Deerfield was a problem the Cougars knew was going to be a big issue.

The Cougars also couldn't figure out how to deal with an extended 1-3-1 zone put forth by the Warriors throughout most of the game.

Thus, Vernon Hills' lack of answers left it at a loss to visiting Deerfield, 40-26, in the Central Suburban North opener in Vernon Hills on Friday night.

Vernon Hills fell to 1-5 and 0-1, while Deerfield (1-4, 1-0) earned its first victory of the season after losing four-straight last week in the Mundelein Thanksgiving tournament.

"I loved our energy and effort, but that 1-3-1 was so difficult to pass over," Vernon Hills coach Matt McCarty said. "It's a really a nice defensive scheme (Deerfield) has and it caused trouble. We're just not there yet to beat a team like that. We were trying to tell our guards up front, on that catch up top trying to attack. But they guard a wide area. That driving lane decreases fairly quickly and we got a couple in there, but not enough to make a difference."

The Warriors were led by 6-foot-10 junior Brandon Lieb, who had a game-high 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. He also had a couple ringing dunks in the first half.

Deerfield jumped out to a 9-0 advantage in the opening quarter.

Vernon Hills found its first basket in the first minute of the second quarter on a rebound putback from Mekhi McCarthy. The Cougars did bounce back and cut the lead to 11-10 on Ryan Jacobson's layup with 2:27 left.

But the Warriors responded with eight unanswered points, a run that was capped off by Walt Mattingly's 3-pointer with 32 seconds left and Deerfield held a 19-10 lead at the break.

Vernon Hills didn't respond in the second half with enough intensity to cut into the lead as Deerfield's Danny Golub hit a couple timely 3-pointers that pushed the lead out to 31-18 by the end of the third quarter and the Warriors never looked back.

"It felt like forever to get our first victory," Deerfield coach Dan McKendrick said. "I think with our defense of the 1-3-1, we were more disciplined this week. We did a better job of being on the ball when they caught it. I thought we were a step behind last week and we gave up a lot of open looks. I think we play a little better every game and the guys are getting more experience. We knew (Vernon Hills) can shoot, all we wanted to do was to be on them and funnel them into our help.

"Brandon (Lieb) was impeccable. He's long and he's athletic. Anytime we do that it will help us defensively."

The Cougars were led by Joey Levitan and Jack Barszcz with 7 points each.