Deerfield freshman Drew Schnurman’s whirlwind season continues.
The 6-foot-1 guard made his high school debut on the sophomore team in November and emerged as its go-to scorer. Then he was promoted to a veteran varsity team with grand ambitions.
On Friday night, Schnurman played on his biggest stage yet. He logged key fourth-quarter minutes in the Class 3A Deerfield Sectional championship game and didn’t flinch.
“You have to show them in practice, win every rep and try to earn your way onto the court,” he said. “Then when you get to the game, you can’t play timid. You have to take the moment. You have to stay confident and trust your work because it’s the same game.”
But the distance Schnurman has traveled in only four months is something to behold and all the more remarkable considering he suffered a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee on the last play of the football season, during which he was the quarterback for the freshman team.
Now Schnurman will go even further after helping the second-seeded Warriors beat seventh-seeded Lake Forest 46-35 on their home court to win their first sectional title since 1997, 14 years before he was born.
“Only big things are coming for him,” Deerfield junior guard Tommy Donahue said.
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Senior center Jake Pollack, a Dartmouth recruit, scored 12 points to pace the Warriors (23-11), who will play Wheaton St. Francis (17-14) in the Hoffman Estates Supersectional at NOW Arena at 6 p.m. Monday. Donahue and senior guard Evan Nagler each scored 11 points.
Schnurman’s statistics won’t jump off the page — a fourth-quarter basket, an assist and two steals — but he buckled down on defense, often checking senior guard Dominic Mordini, who led the Scouts (16-17) in scoring this season. Schnurman was also a key cog in Deerfield’s precision offense.
“My role on this team is either catch-and-shoot threes or distribute for the team,” he said. “Especially as a freshman, these are the seniors’ last games, so I’d like to do whatever I can to help them keep winning.”
Two of those seniors, Pollack and Nagler, scored Deerfield’s first 14 points, setting the tone in a game in which the team didn’t trail.
Lake Forest sophomore guard Tavin Woo hit a 3-pointer 12 seconds into the third quarter to tie the game at 21-21. But the Warriors’ subsequent 10-0 run, capped by Donahue’s back-to-back 3-pointers, gave them all the breathing room they needed.
Schnurman’s basket with 2:35 left put the Warriors ahead 44-29, and shortly thereafter he and the other regulars made way for reserves like senior guards Jack Sterzik, Ethan Weiner and Max Garland.
Schnurman couldn’t help but notice the environment in his home gym.
“We went on a run, and they called a timeout, and I looked at the fans, and you could see white all up and down the stands,” he said. “It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.”
Schnurman’s varsity debut just 21 days earlier is probably on that list too. Deerfield lost to Glenbrook South in that game but has won six straight since then.
“When I first got in there, I shot a 3-pointer and I missed it, but I got it right back and shot it again and ‘swish,’” he said. “I was very nervous, and once I hit that, it felt like the same basketball game that I’ve always played.”
Schnurman has remained grounded as he has grown more comfortable.
“The transfer for him from sophomore to varsity, there’s been no change,” Donahue said. “He’s the same guy, and his confidence has only grown, in my opinion. He’s willing to step up and take big shots and hit them.
“He’s been a key factor, that sixth man who comes in off the bench and gives a spurt both offensively and defensively.”
All this comes after Schnurman rested for two months following the knee injury. He came off the sophomore team’s bench at the beginning of this season, but that role didn’t last long.
“He played with us in the summer, and we didn’t know if there would be enough developmental minutes for him to be on varsity the whole year,” Deerfield coach Dan McKendrick said. “We wanted him to get his confidence and understand the system first.
“We saw him really, really blossom in January to the point where he made it obvious he was ready to come up and help us out. He has unbelievable poise for a freshman.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.