Fast-paced fun as Waukegan advances

Run, run, run equaled fun, fun, fun for the Waukegan boys basketball team on Tuesday night.

The host Bulldogs seemed to have some big-time pep in their step to start their Class 4A sectional semifinal against Notre Dame.

Tempo was pushed, pretty passes were made and shots were hit at a scorching clip as the Bulldogs ran out to a huge early lead that delighted not only the crowd but themselves.

"We were having a lot of fun," Waukegan senior guard DeShawn Davidson said. "We like to run and shoot 3s and pass the ball. We like to play for each other. It's more fun that way."

All that fun, not to mention a quick 19-point first-quarter lead, paved the way for Waukegan's 75-63 upset victory over second-seeded Notre Dame at a jam-packed old Waukegan gym. The No. 6 Bulldogs (21-8) will now face top-seeded Evanston on Friday night for the sectional championship.

Notre Dame ends its season with a 25-6 record.

"We do this thing in practice that we call the 'Ramsey Rules,'" Davidson said. "Coach (Chuck) Ramsey, the coach at CLC (and Warren's longtime head coach) told our coach about it. Every time you get an assist in a scrimmage, you get the ball back. We all want to get assists so bad in practice that we do it in games now, too. We work together really well and we find the open guy."

Davidson was open to the tune of a game-high 23 points. Four other Bulldogs finished in double-figures. Ja'Dyn Brown had 17 points, Carson Newsome had 12 points, Jordan Brown had 11 points and Bryant Brown had 10 points. Bryant Brown, a sophomore, finished with a triple-double by also pulling down 10 rebounds and blocking 11 shots.

"We let our guys play," Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw said. "It's been my dream to have guys like this who can play (up-tempo), so why harness them or limit them? It's not total anarchy and wild, just do whatever, but we let players play and that's fun for them."

Waukegan was up 25-7 early in the first quarter before anyone could catch their breath. The Bulldogs' pace was furious and they were hitting shots as if they were in the driveway unguarded. On the quarter, Waukegan connected on 80 percent of its field goals, taking a 27-15 lead into the second quarter.

Notre Dame, which defeated Waukegan over the holidays at the Wheeling Hardwood Classic, cut its deficit to 10 points by halftime, thanks to 10 second-quarter points by guard Matt Stritzel. But Waukegan quickly pushed that margin back up to as many as 20 points in the third quarter.

"I thought (Waukegan) played really hard and really well the entire game," Notre Dame coach Tom Les said. "Every time we kind of got back into it, they made a run. "At halftime, for being down about 20, to cut it to 10, I thought we were in pretty good shape. But after a couple minutes (in the third quarter) it (the deficit) got back to 20."

Senior guard Jeameril Wilson, who had a handful of dunks, paced Notre Dame with 21 points. Stritzel had 19 points while Malik Jenkins added 10 points.

"We got ourselves into a (hole) and this time we couldn't get out," Wilson said. "Coach told us they were going to come out strong. He said that they were going to throw the first punch and that we needed to. But we just couldn't throw it."