North Chicago charges past Grant

Ryan Noda put forth his best defensive effort for Grant’s boys basketball team, taking charges and forcing turnovers several times in the first half on Friday night.

But it wasn’t close to enough against North Chicago, whose quickness, depth and overall ability were more than Grant could handle in a 92-47 loss in a North Suburban Prairie Division opener in Fox Lake.

Noda took two key charges that helped Grant (2-3, 0-1) get back into the game early in the second quarter.

“I just try to do it for the team and give it 110 percent all the time,” said Noda, who also had a team-best 15 points. “You just watch the middle of the chest. Don’t worry about what they do with their hands or the ball. Even if the fake you out, you still have to look at the chest. I was just moving my feet and staying in front of them.”

North Chicago (6-0, 1-0) jumped out to a 20-9 lead by the end of the first quarter as JaVairius Amos-Mays dropped in a couple of treys of his way to a game-high 22 points.

Grant put together an 8-3 run early in the second quarter as Rayvon Jones (10 points) made a layup to cut the Warhawks’ lead down to 23-17.

JayQuan McCloud had 5 of his 11 points in a 16-2 North Chicago run that put the Warhaws in command 39-19 at halftime.

“I thought we did a decent job in the first half with their dribble penetration,” Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said. “(North Chicago) just beat us on the offensive glass. You just keep them off the glass, then you can stop them. It’s not the first shot. It’s the second, third and fourth shots that beat you.

“I thought our tempo was there, and we want to play up and down. We want to play that style with our quickness. (North Chicago) is a state championship caliber team right there, and our kids have to understand how to play that way.”

North Chicago took advantage of Bulldogs turnovers and missed shots in the third quarter as the Warhawks outscored the Bulldogs 31-19 for a 70-38 lead going into the final period.

Jarrod Coleman and Joseph Thomas both finished with 11 points, and Jay Pettis chipped in 10 for the Warhawks.

“Our goal, and our goal all year, is to get back to Peoria,” North Chicago coach Gerald Coleman said. “We’ve got chances to get down there and we’re working on things in our conference games. If it means that games get close, so be it. If we get a big lead, so be it. The whole point is that we want to get back to Peoria.

“Our starters didn’t come out with a lot of intensity, but it worked out to see 6 or 7 more kids. (Grant’s) coach has his kids playing very hard.”