Warren picks up speed with another NSC win
The momentum gained from its upset of Stevenson two nights earlier turned into even more momentum for Warren.
"We were still rolling with it," center Declan O'Connor said.
The Blue Devils, after all, visited Lake Forest on Friday night. And while the Scouts were coming off a huge win themselves (over Waukegan), the visitors were looking to avenge a triple-overtime loss in Gurnee last month.
O'Connor's game-high 16 points led three players in double figures, as Warren won 49-37 for its second win in a row in North Suburban Conference action.
"After those 3 OTs, we had to come back," O'Connor said. "We were hungry for a win. And after that Stevenson win, we were fired up."
It showed early. O'Connor banked in a shot in the lane to put Warren (9-10, 3-5) up 10-2, and the Blue Devils led 12-8 after one quarter. The lead swelled to 11 on a dazzling scoop by Juwan Perry, after a steal and dish by Ian Schilling, and Warren took a 27-16 advantage into halftime. Schilling's pair of 3-pointers also helped build the lead.
"We needed that quick start," Blue Devils coach Jon Jasnoch said.
That's because Lake Forest (7-11, 3-5) used an 11-0 run, capped by a Justin McMahon 3-pointer, to trim a 35-20 deficit to 4 points with 2:26 left in the third. O'Connor's free throw had Warren up 36-31 entering the fourth.
"They switched to a 1-3-1 (zone) and we had a couple of turnovers," said O'Connor, who shot 6 of 7 from the floor and 4 of 6 from the foul line. "Once we understood their defense and started moving the ball, we eliminated the turnovers and they stopped getting transition buckets."
"They run some good stuff, and they made a couple of nice passes," Jasnoch said of the Scouts. "I don't know if it was necessarily transition, but they didn't let us get set (on offense)."
The Blue Devils, whose amped-up press has helped them win six of their last nine (3 losses by four or fewer points), held Lake Forest without a fourth-quarter field goal until the final minute. The Scouts shot just 2 of 16 in the final quarter.
McMahon (three 3-pointers) led Lake Forest with 13 points, while Mead Payne added 10.
"I've seen Lake Forest play a number of times," Jasnoch said. "They can be down 10 or 12, and the lead isn't safe. They're going to come back."
Jasnoch loved that his players countered the Scouts' third-quarter run. Jayson Dorsey, who sat most of the first half with 2 fouls, scored all 10 of his points (two 3-pointers) after halftime. Branden Ellis had all 10 of his points in the opening half.
Ellis and Dorsey also had a couple of assists each in the second half, while the 6-foot-8 O'Connor scored 8 points in the fourth, as the Blue Devils built their lead to as many as 16.
"There was some phenomenal passing," Jasnoch said. "That's what I pointed out to the team. There were a couple of possessions where once the ball crossed half court, it didn't touch the floor again. It was like 3 passes into a layup. That's a beautiful thing in basketball."