Defense helps North Shore advance

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:18AM

Tough defense and timely scoring provided a winning recipe for North Shore Country Day on Wednesday night.

The Raiders advanced to the Class 1A Christian Liberty Regional final by dismissing Chicagoland Jewish 46-32 on Wednesday night in Arlington Heights.

The Tigers (6-9) were unable to get any offensive rhythm, making only 12-of-44 field-goal attempts while committing 11 turnovers.

"It all starts with defense," said North Shore forward Austin Curren, who scored 11 points, grabbed six rebounds and collected two steals. "When you play good defense, everything else tends to be a little easier."

Raiders coach Rashid Smith applauded Curren for his hustle.

"His defense really carried us," said Smith, whose 13-7 club will play for a regional title at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Curren also provided a spark on the offensive end, particularly a coast-to-coast layup that boosted the lead to 26-18 in the third quarter.

"I was ticked off, because I tried to draw some contact (on earlier drive) and they didn't call it," Curren said. "I wanted to go all the way to the basket, because I knew they couldn't keep up with me."

The other standouts for the Tigers included Jamie Swimmer (8 points, 6 rebounds), Jake Bruce (7 points, 3 steals), Eric Anderson (7 points) and Riley Hall (5 points, 7 rebounds).

Hall gave the club a boost in the second half, scoring five points and grabbing four boards.

"When Riley comes in, he always does the job," said Smith of his reserve post player.

Chicagoland Jewish was led by Samuel Botbol (7 points, 8 rebounds), Aaron Cohn (6 points), Zachary Spellman (5 points) and Adam Seidenberg (5 points).

"We hung around, but we didn't play our best game," said Tigers coach Saul Shaoul. "We couldn't match up with their size."

Christian Liberty 55, Elgin Academy 46: The host Chargers held Elgin Academy scoreless for 5 1/2 minutes in the second quarter and went on to win the semifinal behind a 23-point effort from guard Luke Comerouski.

Connor Flexman led the Hilltoppers (8-16) with 21 points and six rebounds, while Ben Thomas had 18 points and five rebounds.

Contributing: Jacob Hurwith

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