Big night for Kutsor, Lake Zurich at Warren

Ryan Kutsor's biggest week as a varsity basketball player yielded big bonuses Friday night.

His first varsity slam dunk, for one.

"I've never dunked in a game, and it's something I've always wanted to do," the 6-foot-3 sophomore guard said.

The biggest bonus for Kutsor was that his career- and game-high 20 points, which included his one-handed slam and three 3-pointers, rallied Lake Zurich past host Warren 53-48. The win snapped the Bears' season-worst three-game losing streak and kept alive their title hopes in the North Suburban Conference Lake Division.

"We needed a win bad," said Lake Zurich coach Billy Pitcher, whose Bears (17-7, 5-3, one game back of Stevenson in the loss column) get right back at it Saturday night with a game at Mundelein. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy. (Warren) had really been playing well. They just got so many threats."

Kutsor is the Bears' newest offensive threat to go along with Nick Penny, Nick Meyer and Michael Bens. After Kutsor's buzzer-beating post-up shot forced overtime against Batavia last Saturday night, Pitcher gave the varsity rookie his first start Tuesday against Zion-Benton. Kutsor scored just 3 points, but he was clearly more comfortable against Warren (10-13, 5-5).

"He's just been really playing better," Pitcher said. "He played great at Batavia. We believe in him."

Pitcher thought Kutsor's biggest shot was his 3-pointer off an inbounds play to beat the halftime buzzer and pull Lake Zurich within 23-17 of the Blue Devils.

"We were really struggling there, and that gave us some life and some energy," Pitcher said. "We were saying in the locker room, 'Hey, it's a two-possession game and we get Penny back to start the second half.' "

Penny, who scored a career-high 32 points against Batavia, picked up his third foul on a charge in the closing seconds of the first quarter and sat the entire second. But he opened the second half by scoring on a reverse layup, and after 6-foot-7 Declan O'Connor (6 points, 5 rebounds) answered for Warren, Lake Zurich scored again on its next possession when Meyer made two free throws.

More so than Kutsor's 3 to end the first half, Warren coach Jon Jasnoch thought Lake Zurich's early third-quarter baskets spelled trouble.

"A couple of possessions in a row we didn't get stops," Jasnoch said. "That was the thing. That gives them a little boost. Now they're making their comeback."

Warren actually went up 34-24 on Branden Ellis' three-point play with 3:56 left in the third. But Kutsor beat the buzzer again, banking in a shot in the lane in the closing seconds to cap a 12-2 run and tie the score at 36-36 entering the fourth.

Kutsor didn't cool off. He answered a 3-pointer by Juwan Perry (8 points) with a 3 of his own. Then after Penny buried a 3-pointer, Kutsor fired up his team and fans with a midcourt steal and breakaway dunk to make it 44-39 with 5:35 left. Warren called an immediate timeout and Lake Zurich players jumped off the bench to mob Kutsor.

"It was the first game I really came out and played really aggressive, played within myself and played within the team," Kutsor said.

Lake Zurich never relinquished the lead after that. Meyer (11 points), Penny (10) and Bens (8) went a combined 6 of 8 from the line in the final minute to keep Warren from getting closer than four points.

Warren got 16 points from Maurice Chambers and 11 from Ellis. But while the Blue Devils scored only 25 second-half points against Lake Zurich's zone, Jasnoch was more disturbed by the 36 points his Blue Devils allowed after halftime.

"(Lake Zurich's) guys do a good job of knocking down shots when they need to," Jasnoch said. "They cut hard."