Warren bounces Lake Zurich

The close calls are too many to count, as far as Warren coach Ryan Webber is concerned. But he and the rest of the Blue Devils boys basketball team figured that a close one would eventually bounce in their favor.

On Saturday night in a North Suburban Lake Division contest with visiting Lake Zurich, the ball bounced the way of the Devils on more than one occasion.

Of course, it certainly helps when senior Jovan Jokic and junior Maurice Chambers have the type of nights that they had. Jokic was virtually automatic from long range, hitting 4 in a game-best 21-point performance, and Chambers tallied 11 points as Warren hung on to defeat Lake Zurich 49-46.

"We have kind of been a tough-luck loser to Zion, Lake Forest and even (Lake Zurich) at their place," Webber said. "We just keep telling the guys not to focus on what the record says - we feel like we can be a dangerous team."

For Warren (10-12, 4-6) it starts on the defensive end, and the Blue Devils defense set the tone early against the Bears by shutting out the visitors in the first quarter. Warren took a 5-0 lead and built it to 20-14 by the halftime break.

"Five points for (Warren) is a good defensive first quarter for us," said Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher. "We told the guys it was just a two-possession game, but we got too much on the perimeter."

Lake Zurich (19-8, 4-7) finally caught the Devils late in the third quarter on a long 3-pointer from Mike Travlos. Travlos tied for team-best honors with Nick Penny scoring 11 points. Travlos' long ball gave the Bears their first lead of the night at 31-29 with 51 seconds left in the third.

That's when Chambers and Jokic took over for Warren.

Jokic banged in a long 3-pointer off a feed from Chambers, then put back a Chambers miss with 5:01 to play to give the Devils the lead for good at 38-37.

"I think the difference tonight was everyone played with confidence," Chambers said. "We came out with a lot of energy and everybody was ready to go."

Lake Zurich wouldn't go quietly as the Bears trimmed a 6-point deficit down to just 1 point in the final minutes. The Bears even had a chance to get a final shot off but Travlos had the ball deflected as time expired and Warren held on.

"This is the type of win where everyone had their fingerprints on it," Webber said. "We haven't been healthy and we have played everyone. Hopefully we can build from this."

Will McClaughry added 10 points and 4 rebounds for the Bears.