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Deerfield's depth downs Conant

In a matchup of boys basketball teams leading their respective Mid-Suburban West and Central Suburban North conferences, Conant and Deerfield were looking for a win to keep their momentum going.

Conant, though, hit a bump in the road while absorbing a 75-57 loss to the host Warriors Saturday.

Deerfield's depth proved to be too much to handle for the Cougars.

The Warriors (20-3) received scoring from 11 different players.

"I didn't realize that they had so much depth off the bench," said Conant guard Jimmy Sotos, who scored a team-high 15 points. "They would find gaps in our defense and then find an open shooter. The way they spread out our defense, we weren't able to protect the rim."

Deerfield's Jeremy Sernick (11 points) broke a 5-5 tie with a 3-point basket and then added two free throws. That ignited an 11-3 run for a 16-8 lead, which escalated to a 26-16 lead at the end the first quarter.

"We gave up 26 points in the first quarter," said Conant coach Tom McCormack. "But a lot of it had to do with Deerfield's execution. They really made us pay for our mistakes on defense. They are a smart, well-connected team."

Conant (13-5) scored the first 6 points of the second quarter to pull within 26-22 with five minutes left after Sotos' basket.

Deerfield responded with a 13-2 run over the next 3:40 to lead 39-24. Jordan Baum scored 7 of his 11 points during the rally.

"They have some dangerous 3-point shooters, and on that run they found their open men," McCormack said.

Deerfield took a 41-26 lead to the locker at halftime.

Conant was not able to make a third-quarter comeback and trailed by as much as 61-37 late in the third quarter.

"Our game plan was to not slug it out with their big men," said Deerfield coach Dan McKendrick. "We wanted to go up and down the court on them. I thought our inside people, who are not as big as theirs, did a real good job blocking them off the boards.

"This is the way we've played this year. We've been able to find open players for shots. Our inside players played with energy and effort. This is a smart team."

Noah Deutsch and Josh Maize scored 8 points each while Ben Bizar and Jordan Sherman chipped in 7 apiece for the Warriors.

Brandon Vinson scored 14 and Ryan Davis 11 for the Cougars, who were without Ben Scholls (mild sprain). He should be ready next Friday against Schaumburg.

"We have a month before the state tournament starts," McCormack said. "We've played some good teams. We just have to handle a learning experience like this the right way."

Elk Grove 61, Northridge Prep 44: Senior guard Tyree Howard scored a game-high 25 points to help the host Grens to a nonconference victory.

Elk Grove took command by outscoring Northridge Prep 20-4 in the second quarter.

Fulton Wingba contributed 12 points and Joe Gatziolis had 9 for Elk Grove (12-8).

Grens coach Anthony Furman reported that Elk Grove generated 20 assists, committed 12 turnovers and "played very well on both sides of the ball."

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