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Darius Paul’s late three-pointer lifts Warren past North Chicago
Updated: November 25, 2011 7:45PM
Warren senior Darius Paul scored all 22 of his points in the second half, including a three-point bomb with 3.2 seconds left that gave the Blue Devils a 67-64 victory over North Chicago on Friday night.
Paul, a 6-9 power forward who will play next year at Western Michigan, was 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-1 from the foul line in the first half. He also missed his first two shots of the third quarter, but then hit 9 of 10 to save the Blue Devils from what would have been an eye-opening defeat.
“Coach called for a ‘go’ (on the last play) and we ran it like we do every day in practice,” said Paul. “When we came in at halftime (down 32-31), coach (Chuck Ramsey) got in our faces a little bit, and he got in my face quite a bit.
“That got me fired up.”
Paul’s heroics were needed because North Chicago’s star guard, Aaron Simpson (committed to Illinois State) scored 34 points, including a three-pointer with 35 seconds left that tied the game at 64-64. Warren then ran down the clock and Paul delivered.
“We were very fortunate to win the game,” said Ramsey. “Toward the end, we had some nice individual play, but as a unit, we never got it going today. We didn’t execute or guard well.”
North Chicago led 22-12 early, and Warren’s biggest lead was 43-35 in the third quarter.
Nathan Boothe (13 points), and JoVaughn Gaines (nine points, nine rebounds, five assists) complemented Paul’s 22 points and 10 rebounds.
On the other side, Simpson was backed by sophomore Kurt Hall (10 points, nine rebounds) and JaVairius Amos-Mays (eight points, seven rebounds).
Simpson was 12 of 27 shooting, including 3 of 7 from downtown.
As a team, North Chicago was 9 of 20 from behind the arc and Warren was 2-for-9.
“As a coach, you can’t ask for anything more than to have them play as hard as they did tonight,” said Warhawks coach Gerald Coleman. “They fought the entire game.
“On a couple of key possessions, we made some sophomore mistakes. Against Warren, every possession has to count.”
Simpson was proud of the way his teammates played against a big-school state power.
“For them to be the second-ranked team in the state and have it come down to the last shot, we had to play our hearts out,” he said. “A little more work, and we could have gotten it done.”
The teams could meet again in February, if they both win their respective division titles in the North Suburban Conference.
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