Victory at Mundelein wears well on Ellis, Warren

Attention Lake Zurich High School: While cleaning up this week, please pay attention to a missing No. 10 jersey belonging to Warren junior basketball player Branden Ellis.

"My mom told me she couldn't find my jersey,'' Ellis said. "But I have some friends there, so maybe they can find it."

Warren coach Jon Jasnoch came prepared for this game on Friday night at Mundelein. So he selected No. 44 for the jersey-less Ellis.

And Ellis had his moments. He easily led this NSC clash in dunks. He had one on the second

play of the game, and another in the second half.

"On that first one, Juwan (Perry) and I had eye contact," Ellis said. "He threw it a little high for me but I was able to catch it."

Warren (12-11) raced to a quick 8-0 lead. However, the home-standing Mustangs got a late 3 from James Willman, and Mundelein trailed just 18-10 after one quarter.

Next up for Warren was senior guard Jayson Dorsey. Midway through the second quarter, it was Dorsey 9 and Mundelein 0.

Even a Tommy Marcotte buzzer-beating half court 3-pointer couldn't help Mundelein on this night as Warren handled the Mustangs 78-47.

"It was pretty similar to the last time we played them,'' said Warren coach Jon Jasnoch. "Mundelein is still a dangerous team. That Marcotte kid can shoot from anywhere. But I thought we played very well defensively. There weren't many uncontested shots. We were able to play a lot of guys."

Still, it was reasonably close after one quarter. Ian Schilling opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and Warren was off and running. And then Dorsey took over.

"I saw lot of opportunities,'' Dorsey said. "We stayed within the rules tonight. We were playing good defense and we were able to turn that into our offense."

Three straight drives to the hoop by Dorsey helped extend the Warren lead.

And when he landed a 3-pointer, the Blue Devils' were up by 20 (30-10).

"We couldn't stop them from scoring,'' said Mundelein coach Corey Knigge. "And there are things you can do on defense. Defense is 90 percent effort."

The Mundelein offense played better in the second half. Marcotte (19 points) and Jeff Bikus (15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks), helped the Mustangs double their team's first-half output in the third quarter alone.

Jasnoch was able to clear his bench for most the second half. He got a spirited effort from 6-foot-9 junior Skylar Kooyenga (5 points, 5 rebounds).

Jacob Rich led the Devils in the fourth quarter with 6 points.

Warren was able to shake off that loss to Lake Zurich earlier in the week.

"We played better as a team tonight,'' Dorsey noted.

For the Mustangs, the losing is taking its toll. And injuries have hurt the cause as well.

"In the first half, we were too passive against their zone,'' Knigge said.

Mundelein dropped to 4-19 after this defeat.

Warren had balanced scoring in the victory. Dorsey led with 14 points and Ellis added 12.