Warren’s coaching staff left Waukegan on Thursday night feeling somewhat heartened.
A 65-61 loss to a talented Waukegan team – the Blue Devils’ sixth in their last seven games – wasn’t exactly what they had in mind, but they felt they had reason for optimism.
“To play that hard and not get the win was a little disappointing,” Warren coach Jon Jasnoch said, “but we walked out of the gym that night saying this is as good as we played, it’s too bad we came up short.”
The Blue Devils felt that way again after each of their next two games – minus the disappointment.
With strong teams up and down the bracket at Wheaton Warrenville South’s MLK tournament, few saw Warren (6-8) as a serious threat to win twice on Saturday and reach the semifinals.
That includes the Blue Devils themselves, who upset both Notre Dame and Oak Park in overtime on Saturday to reach Monday morning’s semifinals against Bloomington (14-2).
Wheaton South (17-1) will face Homewood-Flossmoor (13-3) in the other semifinal.
“Those are two very good teams and we had to play very well to get those wins,” Jasnoch said. “I think we played our two best games, two most complete games and even those were overtime games. It took everything to get those wins. The coaching staff is very happy with how players responded.”
Jasnoch has been on that staff for nearly 20 years, first playing for Chuck Ramsey then coaching under him during the program’s glory years.
He remained a member of the staff during Ryan Weber’s three-year tenure before succeeding Weber last season, which turned out to be Warren’s first sub-.500 campaign since 1979-80.
A 3-1 start this season was promising, but high-scoring junior guard Brandon Ellis broke a finger and the losses started to pile up.
Ellis returned for the Pontiac Holiday Tournament – Warren lost to Lockport and the same Bloomington team it will face on Monday – and Jasnoch started to notice a difference the following week in practice.
“I’m trying to put my finger on it,” Jasnoch said. “Having Ellis out with injury for about three weeks threw us off. Guys had to learn different roles and we took some losses in the short run but that may have been a blessing in disguise.
“Maybe it was the bonding experience of Pontiac. I think it is multiple things going on. We have certainly played a lot better. It is important going forward to keep that positive momentum going into (Monday) and after. That is why you get in these tough tournaments. You want to play these teams to get better.”
Simeon-Fenwick II: Fenwick’s 71-68 upset of Simeon in an MLK Day thriller was among the best and most exciting games of the 2015-16 slate.
It was also the first nonconference, non-showcase game the well-traveled Wolverines played in the Chicago area since the Derrick Rose era.
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The second one will be Monday, at Simeon this time. The No. 1 Wolverines (15-0) are better than they were last year. All-State point guard Mike Smith, who scored 38 points in the biggest victory of Fenwick’s best season in years, no longer wears a Friars uniform.
But No. 19 Fenwick (13-3) is still plenty talented, and veteran coach Rick Malnati is not aw-shucksing his team’s chances.
“I think we could be really good,” Malnati said. “I think we have a long way to go. It was disappointing how we got off to a tough start emotionally because of getting football players back, but now we should be settled in.
“I love our upside. If the pieces fall into place we can be really good. I think we can play with Simeon. I expect to play with Simeon.”
Shamrocked: St. Patrick went into Friday with a 14-2 record and a slew of lopsided victories but a loss to the only Top 20 team it played.
The Shamrocks are now 1-1 in such affairs and serious ESCC contenders after beating last year’s co-champ and Class 4A runner-up Benet 76-73.
St. Patrick is in a three-way tie with Marist and St. Viator at 3-0 in the deep league, and none of the first-place teams are among the three who were ranked in the preseason.
Benet and Marian Catholic are 1-2 in league play, while Notre Dame is 2-1.
St. Patrick has not won the conference since 2002-03.
Mike Helfgot is a freelance reporter for the baiduhai.