It was 364 days ago when the Highland Park boys basketball team boarded its bus to Maine East in Park Ridge.
The Giants had won six of their last seven games and boasted the top spot in the CSL North standings. They were set to face a Maine East team that had yet to win a conference game.
But the Blue Demons pulled of a stunning 48-45 victory, dropping Highland Park behind Deerfield in the conference standings, a spot that would hold as Deerfield took the CSL North crown.
And the Giants haven’t forgotten last year’s mishap. In December, they took down the Blue Demons, 48-21, in a game touted as a “business trip.” And on Friday night, they played with visible intensity as they halted Maine East’s four-game winning streak — and won their fourth in a row — with a 64-31 victory.
“We always have that in the back of our minds,” senior forward Hallvard Lundevall said. “Not trying to get revenge, but always just trying to prove ourselves — just knowing that we’re the better team.”
Highland Park (16-4, 6-2 CSL North) led, 14-7, after the first quarter and then owned the second quarter. Senior point guard David Sachs, who finished with 19 points on 5-for-7 three-point shooting, nailed three straight from behind the arc in a span of 58 seconds to engineer a 20-4 second-quarter run.
The Giants shot 57 percent from the field — 9-for-17 from three-point range — but it was their defensive ferocity that played dividends throughout the night. They registered 11 steals, with senior Jason Beermann accounting for four.
“We ran our offense incredibly well, but we set the tone defensively by getting some deflections and steals,” coach Paul Harris said. “A total team effort.”
For Maine East (8-12, 2-6), senior center Ezeka Omeke stood out as the Blue Demons’ sole bright spot. He accounted for just under half of their points, with 15 on 7-for-7 shooting.
After a heartbreaking road loss that wrapped up a season sweep at the hands of rival Deerfield, the Giants have won four straight, including wins over Maine West, Julian and St. Joseph, then the No. 8 team in the Tribune poll. They beat St. Joseph on Saturday night at Batavia in thrilling fashion. Trailing 52-51 with 3.3 seconds left, Sachs drove the ball down the full length of the court and sunk a buzzer-beating layup to cap off the upset.
Friday’s win over Maine East, which kept the Giants in second place in the CSL North, has sustained their positive momentum.
“In our first few four-game segments, we kept going 3-1,” Harris said. “In this set, we went 4-0. That feels pretty good.”
The Giants hit the road to take on Lake Forest Academy on Tuesday and then play Niles North (16-8, 5-3) at home Friday, on senior night.
“We’re just going next play, focusing on the next one,” Lundevall said. “Our motto right now is, ‘Our best is still to come.’ “
Sam Brief is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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