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Boys Basketball: Minus coach, Niles North still cruises
Maine East senior Aaron Shannon (5) puts up a layup during the home game against Niles North on Friday, February 10, 2012. Niles North defeated Maine East 82-36.
| michael jarecki ~ for Sun-Times Media
Suspended Niles North head coach Glenn Olson delivered his pregame speech via a video stored on an iPad, and his team went out and took care of business early Friday night.
The Vikings (16-7, 6-3) bounced back from two straight losses in emphatic fashion, crushing Maine East 82-36 in Park Ridge. The Blue Demons dropped to 4-19, 0-9.
Niles North junior Lorenzo Dillard made his eagerly anticipated debut after a suspension, and didn’t disappoint. Dillard came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points and he added three steals.
“(Dillard) is a great player and a great spark to our team, defensively, offensively, he’s a great help,” Niles North junior point guard Malachi Nix said. “He’s a great addition. He’s been practicing with us all year and he was with us in summer ball. He fits right in.”
Nix had 13 points and six steals for a Niles North team that terrorized Maine East with its press.
“We had a bad taste in our mouth because these last two losses,” said Niles North assistant coach George Drase, who was filling in for Olson after the head coach received two technical fouls in the previous week’s loss to Maine West. “I think the kids said, ‘Enough is enough.’
”Unfortunately for Maine East, they caught us at a bad time in our season, after two losses. Our effort was tremendous from start to finish.”
Senior Mychael Henley added 11 points for the Vikings and senior Eren Washington had nine points and six rebounds.
The Vikings trailed 4-3 early and then scored 20 straight points to end the first quarter. They were up 50-16 at halftime and 69-25 after three quarters.
Maine East was led in scoring by senior Aaron Shannon, who had 10.
“Niles North is a good team, they play hard and they are very tenacious defensively. They create a lot of havoc on the floor for a lot of teams. We needed to be a little tougher with the basketball,” said Maine East head coach Dave Genis.
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