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North Chicago rallies, denies Grant's upset bid

Trying to get past North Chicago in boys basketball has been a tough task the last few years.

But Grant has done it before, and for three quarters Wednesday the Bulldogs certainly seemed to be on their way to springing an upset on the road.

But the Warhawks pulled themselves together, Pierce Coleman scoring 10 of his team-high 17 points in the final quarter to lift North Chicago past Grant 63-57 in a Northern Lake County Conference battle.

Grant (6-8, 3-1) suffered its first conference defeat.

The Bulldogs had built a 47-39 lead going into the final quarter, but North Chicago (7-6, 4-0) responded with a 24-10 run over the final eight minutes.

"We just lost our composure, and I'm super disappointed," Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said. "We were in control the whole night. We lost our composure, and we tried to beat North Chicago at their own game."

The Bulldogs' John Kerr had one his best games of the season, finishing with a team-best 17 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, along with stepping in front of an opponent to take a charge. Ben Kusiak added 12 points and 7 boards, while Mike Huff and Jack Gorden each chipped in with 9 points apiece.

North Chicago had built a 34-29 with two minutes left in the second quarter. Kerr had a 3-point play and Kyle Dupree added a layup for the Bulldogs to tie it 34-34 going into the break.

Starting the third quarter, Grant scored 6 straight points and then outscored North Chicago 13-5 to take a 47-39 advantage. Kerr dropped in 7 points and Kusiak had 5.

North Chicago had a poor shooting effort, going 2-for-16 from the field in the third quarter.

But the game went the other way in the fourth, as Grant struggled from the field in going 2-for-15.

The Warhawks' Terrell Grier added 12 points.

"I thought we played well," North Chicago coach Gerald Coleman said. "What I see and what's been happening to us all year, we beat ourselves. We make mistakes - it's not the other teams.

"Grant did a great job, and we expected it from them. I thought we played great defense. It's just we didn't play smart basketball at times. It never fazed us. When we get down, we have some things that we do. We have practiced in those situations. As long as we do our defensive pressure, the game will turn out the way it's supposed to turn out."

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