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Boys Basketball: North can’t hold on in loss to HP
Kyle Tyrrell, Staff Writer
10:08 am CST February 24, 2015
Multiple turnovers hurt Glenbrook North in a 50-37 CSL North loss to Highland Park (18-6) on Friday, Feb. 20, in Northbrook.
The Spartans (11-14) succumbed to the smothering defense of Highland Park and committed turnovers through all four quarters of the game. North struggled to find a leader until sophomore James Karis directed the team.
Giants guard Jason Beerman and senior utility-man Hallvard Lundevall sparked HP with two quick 3-pointers to start the game. Lundevall added two more points to put the Spartans in a hole early.
The Giants showed poise throughout under the steady point guard play of senior David Sachs, who ended the game with nine points and five assists.
The Giants played a trap defense which harassed the Spartans all night. Luke Norcia on two separate occasions stole the ball from the Spartans on an inbounds pass and hit easy layups. Norcia added another 3-pointer in the second half and ended the game with 11 points.
Lundevall proved a leader Friday night as the Giants relied on his consistency and calmness every time GBN came within striking distance.
GBN caught the Giants by the end of the first half, ignited by the hot shooting of senior forward Pat Hamilton, who ended the night with five 3-pointers and 17 total points.
GBN relied on promising sophomore firebrand Karis, whose five older brothers played basketball at GBN – one of whom claimed a state championship in 2005 – and showed his shiftiness at point guard all night.
Karis said he is getting more comfortable playing as a sophomore leader on varsity.
“I think coach saw my talent and hard work throughout the year and I started to get more playing time,” Karis said. “A lot of [players] are bigger than me and stronger than me so I have to play aggressive.”
Karis said he aspires to fill the successful sneakers of his older brothers.
“It’s definitely toughened me up having a big family with older brothers like that,” Karis said. “One hundred percent toughened me up.”
Pat Hamilton led the Spartans in scoring and provided most of the offensive firepower with his outside shooting.
“I was able to get a lot of good looks in the second half to get us closer,” Hamilton said. “In the end we turned the ball over too much.”
GBN coach David Weber was proud of his guys tonight for a tough game. He credits Highland Park for being a “great team.”
“When you get down that much early you’ve got to fight back,” Weber said. “We fought, we tied them, but then we kind of fell apart.”
The Spartans were on the Giants’ heels all night showing some glimpses of an ability to run with them. But each time the Giants responded with a new scorer. Senior forward Jordan Krawitz had four big points down the stretch to boost the Giants.
Next up on the schedule will be the state series. GBN plays Mather in the first round of the playoffs at Evanston on March 2.
Kyle Tyrrell
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Girls Basketball: Free throws sink GBN late
Kyle Tyrrell, Staff Writer
4:13 pm CST February 16, 2015
The Glenbrook North girls basketball team lost a hard-fought game to visiting Deerfield 50-44 in a Central Suburban North matchup on Friday, Feb. 13.
The two teams traded baskets most of the game until Deerfield (5-18) nailed the coffin-lid closed at the end with a 7-0 run. The young Spartans (4-19) matched up in toughness and skill with the Warriors but never quite had control of the game.
“The biggest thing with our girls is that they always play hard,” GBN coach Danielle Fluegge said. “We’re trying to create a culture of winning and competing – the winning component is obviously not there yet – and it has been a long time so just competing has been a huge goal for us.”
The Spartans went into halftime with a 22-20 lead. The teams remained tethered until, tied at 36 with six minutes left in the fourth, Deerfield went on a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer and a quick breakaway layup plus the foul. Deerfield would finish the game on free throws off of Spartan fouls to stop the clock.
Fluegge said she isn’t concerned about the losses because the wins are going to start piling up next season when her absurdly young varsity squad matures another year.
She said the Spartans have been competitive every game this year. “We have been right there all season.”
“There is a method to our madness,” Fluegge said. “This is a solid group of young players. They have stepped up in ways we couldn’t have imagined.”
This coming offseason, Fluegge said it’s going to be a hard conditioning routine, with weight lifting and tournaments – even shooting clinics.
“There’s so much potential,” Fluegge said. “It’s very exciting, but we are going to be all over them.”
Feisty freshman Jordan Davison is cutting her teeth on the court for GBN as her first season winds down.
She played almost the entire game, and ended with 12 points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists. Davison, who handles the ball at point guard and can play off the ball as a shooter, is a natural leader.
At 5-foot-5, Davison still has the small frame of a freshman, but she has the aggressiveness and basketball prowess of an upperclassman.
“At first [being a freshman on varsity] was really nerve-wracking,” Davison said. “But now I’m used to it and I like the challenge and I like being competitive with them and it makes me better.”
Davison fouled out with three minutes left in the game, which was unfortunate because the Spartans needed her scoring ability down the stretch.
“We had a good game though in getting our offenses going and run through them right,” Davison said.
Davison said being in a leadership position next season will add some pressure but she’s sure she can handle it.
“The girls see that we keep getting better,” Fluegge said. “Flip the mindset from needing to have wins to ‘we’re going to keep getting better each game.’”
Junior center Miranda Weber was sick all week so she didn’t start, but she put up 15 points and snagged five rebounds.
Weber anchors herself underneath the basket and grinds out the rebound game while her finesse affords her tough post baskets with hands in her face.
“We are getting more comfortable with each other and getting more confident,” Weber said. “[Coach Fluegge] just keeps giving us confidence because she knows we are right there. We are getting so close in so many games.”
Junior guard Ilana Malman had 11 points, three assists and two rebounds.
Malman and Davison make up the burgeoning backcourt for the Spartans with an inside-out game plan. They look for the dish to Weber and if that’s not there, drive hard to the basket.
“It’s definitely difficult to have these losses but we all stick together and focus on each other’s positives and not our weaknesses,” Malman said. “It’s frustrating to compete all game and then lose at the end. We need to work on holding our wins. With everyone advancing and getting older I think we can start to finish games.”
Coach Fluegge is proud of where the team’s at thus far because she is looking at the bigger picture.
“We’re going to be on them every day (this offseason),” Fluegge said. “We’re gonna spend hours in the weight room and continue to strengthen and build the confidence we already have.”
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Boys basketball: Fourth-quarter rush goes against Ramblers
Kyle Tyrrell, Staff Writer
5:07 pm CST February 2, 2015
With the top spot in the Chicago Catholic League North on the line, the Ramblers (12-7) fell to St. Ignatius (16-3) in a heartbreaker, losing by one point Friday night, Jan. 30, at Loyola Academy.
In the packed Loyola gym, archbishop Blase Cupich offered the pregame prayer to conclude Catholic School’s Week, drumming up an even-more-intense atmosphere for the rivalry game.
Junior guard Brandon Danowski said it was the biggest game of the season.
“This game means a lot,” Danowski said after the game. “It’s tradition, family; our whole school comes to this game. To lose by one is really heartbreaking.”
After a final score of 43-42 and two days after an overtime loss to Fenwick, coach Tom Livatino said it was hard to lose back-to-back one-point games, The Ramblers are on a three-game losing streak.
But the difficult road, he said, has made his team better.
“I’m not worried about regrouping the guys; we have tremendous guys” Livatino said. “This is a tough stretch. We’ve played six games in a row of ranked teams. Bring it on. I think we are a better team today than we were a week ago.”
The Ramblers fell behind 11-2 in the first quarter as they struggled to get open looks.
Danowski and senior guard Ricky Cenar sparked the Ramblers in the second quarter by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers.
Senior Michael Mangan also helped keep the Ramblers in the game with his defensive prowess, recording four steals from the Wolfpack.
Danowski provided the Ramblers with the majority of their points in the first half. He said he knows his teammates won’t let the loss dog them, and the Ramblers know they’re still very much a dangerous playoff out.
“We are very close as a team,” Danowski said. “So we will stay close this weekend. We have a couple days off before we get back to work Monday.”
Sophomore Ramar Evans snatched five rebounds and provided hustle with several brazen drives to the basket, but couldn’t get going offensively, ending the night with only two points.
Evans added the two crucial free throws at the end of the game, when Loyola came up one point short of the Wolfpack.
“Coach said he was really proud of our effort and how we fought back with resilience,” Evans said. “Coach said he knows how hard it is to lose by one in a game where we gave it everything we had.”
In the fourth quarter, the Ramblers fought back as they did all game to finally surmount the Wolfpack. Danowski hit a three with 6:55 left to bring the game within three points, at 32-29 Wolfpack.
Then senior center Peter Poggioli went on a tear. Poggioli scored 12 points in the second half and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line down the stretch.
The teams locked up at 35 apiece in the waning minutes, sending the opposing fan sections into a frenzy.
Poggioli hit a three with 3:55 left in the fourth to put the Ramblers up 38-35 and put the home crowd into a bleacher-thundering craze.
“It was a great feeling when I hit that three to give us momentum,” Poggioli said. “It’s always tough though to lose like that. I think a lot of plays in the game could have gone either way so we learn from our mistakes. It was a fun game, though.”
Poggioli said the Ramblers are a very tightly knit group and will see each other through the weekend.
The Ramblers, leading 38-37, defended the Wolfpack well, keeping them out of the paint. But back-to-back 3-pointers on rapid catch-and-shoot possessions proved to be the coup de gras for Loyola.
The last play, with the Ramblers down 43-40 was designed for Evans who drove and was fouled. Evans hit the two free throws, and the Wolfpack got the ball back with less than 10 second to play and Loyola couldn’t get another shot.
Evans said he knows this tough loss will make his team stronger and more ready for the next challenge.
Brandon Danowski led all scorers with 19 points, 12 of which came from the three-point arc. Poggioli scored 16 and snagged four rebounds.
“Tonight we had two guys that really scored the ball,” Coach Livatino said. “But we need five guys to score the ball.”
The Ramblers will take on DePaul College Prep next weekend in another Chicago Catholic League North matchup.
“You only get better by playing the best teams,” Livatino said. “Unfortunately it’s through some losses that we’re getting better, but to me that’s not the most important thing. We are growing as young men.”
