Warren slips past Zion-Benton

It doesn't matter which night you have a North Suburban Conference boys basketball matchup, because each contest will be a good one and has a way of going down to the wire.

Warren nearly let a 7-point lead get away from it in the final 44 seconds but found a way to hold off a stingy Zion-Benton team 48-46 in a rare Monday night game in Zion.

"It was a close one - it's always a close one here," Warren coach Jon Jasnoch said. "Warren and Zion-Benton games notoriously come down to that, You want to have a lead, because you know that Zion-Benton will come back. They will get some steals and knock some shots. Fortunately, they didn't make that last one. We were able to defend that very well. Both teams defended very well and competed tonight."

Warren (6-7, 2-2) held a 47-40 lead with 44 seconds remaining when Tavion McCarthy dropped down a couple of free throws. But then the Zee-Bees (8-7, 2-2) left a sting in a matter of seconds. Amar Augillard was fouled on a 3-point attempt and followed up by hitting 3 straight free throws of his team-high 18 points, which made the score 47-43 with 21.8 seconds left.

Then the Blue Devils turned the ball over in the backcourt. The Zee-Bees countered with another trey coming from Floyd Bailey with 14.7 on the clock that cut the margin to 47-46.

McCarthy was fouled for Warren and returned to the line with 9 seconds remaining. But he missed the first attempt and knocked down the second one for a 2-point advantage.

"You just have to make them for your team," McCarthy said. "The first one went around and around, but I got the second one and that was cool. I tend to be good with the crowd and that doesn't bother me."

Zion-Benton had one last chance and tried to take the game in its favor with a 3-point attempt from the corner. However, the shot went off the mark.

"I think we did what we had to do late," Zion-Benton coach Bob Worthington said. "We had an opportunity. Give (Warren) credit, they played a tough game. They made shots they needed to. We always go back and forth. They know us well and we know them well. It's what basketball is supposed to be. Typical North Suburban January game."

Warren got off to a hot start taking a 16-8 lead after the first eight minutes. Adnan Sarancic hit a trio of treys of his game-high 21 points.

The Blue Devils held the game in check with a 26-23 advantage by halftime and lost the lead twice by a point.

In the third quarter, Zion-Benton had tied the game at 28-28 on a Quentin Williams 3-pointer.

Warren closed the quarter on an 8-0 run for a 36-28 lead.

Then the Zee-Bees chipped the lead down to 41-38 on Kayleb Naylor's rebound and putback. Again the Blue Devils responded with a 6-2 run for the 7-point lead down to the final 44 seconds.