Boys Basketball: Warren comes alive, beats Lake Zurich

Updated: December 2, 2011 11:34PM

Darius Paul scored 14 points and No. 2 Warren shook off a slow start to knock off Lake Zurich 53-38 on Friday in Gurnee in the North Suburban Lake opener for both teams.

Point guard Jameris Smith added 10 points for the Devils (4-0), who host New Trier on Saturday night. Lake Zurich is 1-4.

The Bears scored the game’s first four points and Warren didn’t take the lead for good until 10-9 on a bucket by Paul late in the first quarter. The lead was 27-17 at halftime and Lake Zurich didn’t get closer than 30-25 midway through the third quarter.

Warren then ended the quarter on an 8-0 run to take control.

Despite the victory, Blue Devils coach Chuck Ramsey knows his team has plenty of room for improvement.

“We did some things well, and some things we didn’t do so well,” he said. “We took care of the ball pretty well and we forced turnovers. But, what we didn’t do is finish our shots close to the basket ... especially at the end of the second quarter.”

In that second frame, Warren was just 2-of-13 from the field.

“And we also didn’t defend (Mirko) Grcic,” Ramsey said.

Grcic, a 6-6 senior forward, poured in a game-high 22 points.

For game, Warren was 10-of-15 from the foul line, while Lake Zurich was 6-of-8.

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