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Balanced Warren dumps Lakes

None of Warren's boys basketball players stuffed the stats sheet on Thanksgiving Eve.

They gobbled up a win instead, much to the delight of Blue Devils coach Jon Jasnoch.

Ten of his hoopsters scored at least 2 points - paced by junior forward Adam Panek's 12 points, followed by senior forward Cooper Stacey's 11 - in Warren's 53-36 defeat of Lakes at the Grant/Mundelein Thanksgiving tournament at Mundelein Wednesday night.

"Ten?" Jasnoch asked. "Good. I'll take that; I like that kind of balance. You know what else I like? How hard we played, how scrappy we played.

"We want energy and scrappiness to be significant parts of our identity."

Warren (2-1) raced to a 15-5 lead and enjoyed a 19-7 advantage after one quarter. Panek (4 rebounds) tallied 8 in the frame, and Stacey netted 5.

Junior guard Tyler Anderson scored all 7 of the Eagles' points.

Neither team changed the scoreboard in the first 4:15 of the second quarter.

Blue Devils junior guard Amarias Stephens' steal-and-bucket sequence finally doused the drought. Another field goal from Panek, at the 2:01 mark, stretched the lead to 23-7.

Lakes (0-3) then showed life in a 1:25 span, producing an 8-0 run, with 6 coming off the hands of 6-foot-6 junior forward Brock Marino (9 points, 5 rebounds).

Warren led 25-15 at the break.

"We're young and learning," Lakes coach Chris Snyder said of his junior-laden (7) crew. "Going through what we endured tonight is going to pay dividends for us; I'm sure of it. It's early, and we're going to work hard to get better."

Blue Devils senior guard Gavin Cartwright scored only 5 points, but his first few points - thanks to a clutch pass from Stacey - beat the buzzer at the end of the first quarter. His 3 blocks ignited his squad at the other end of the court; his steal-and-layup fattened Warren's lead to 30-15 in the second minute of the third frame; and the 6-1, 185-pounder's assist on senior forward Ryan Panek's trey halted a Lakes burst at 6-0 midway through the same quarter.

A helping here.

A helping there.

"He's grown and he's gotten stronger," Jasnoch said of his third-year varsity Blue Devil. "One through four, I can ask him to play any of those positions."

Stacey, meanwhile, impressed with his quick first step and slithering, tough-to-guard moves in the paint.

Warren senior guard Andrew Dolan struck for 7 of his 9 points after halftime, including a triple to open the second half. Stephens finished with 5 points, capping his night of scoring via a 3-pointer that widened Warren's lead to 47-28 with 17 ticks left in the third quarter.

Lakes junior forward Tyson Dewey (6 points) hit a pair of 3-balls; senior mate Ethan McGruder scored all 5 of his points in the final quarter; and Eagles 6-3 sophomore forward Jimmy Kania grabbed 4 rebounds.

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