Boys Basketball: Deutsch, Highland Park lay it on the line in loss
by dan shalin Contributor January 30, 2012 1:44PM
Highland Park players come off the bench to congratulate Jake Norcia, who hit a three-quarter-court shot at the end of the first quarter in Friday's game. | Dan Luedert~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:28AM
The Highland Park boys basketball team didn’t earn a victory in Friday night’s CSL North first-place showdown with host Niles North, but Giants head coach Paul Harris spoke not of disappointment, but of pride, after the game.
“I told (the team), this is about as proud as I’ve been of them all year, the way they played,” Harris said after his team’s 50-40 defeat, which left the Giants a game behind Niles North and Glenbrook North in the CSL North race. “That was a great high school game, two teams that really laid it on the line. Niles North just played a little bit better and deserved to win.”
Perhaps no player embodied Highland Park’s fighting spirit more than guard Justin Deutsch. The senior suffered a shoulder injury in the first half, returned in the second half and tweaked the shoulder again, and still wanted to return to the floor.
“We laid it on the line, every guy that came in. I have so much respect for all my teammates,” said senior forward Josh Sterns. “Justin (Deutsch) wanted to come back with a separated shoulder. I had a separated shoulder in football last year, and I know how bad that hurts. For him to want to come out and play after halftime … you just respect the heck out of those guys, my whole team, doing what they do.”
Highland Park ((12-8, 4-3) actually led 30-24 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter of a defensive struggle. But Niles North went back in front — thanks to a 13-1 run that featured eight points by senior guard Malachi Nix, who finished with 28 points.
Niles North (15-5, 5-2) led 39-33 when HP senior Jake Norcia fouled out midway through the fourth quarter. Without Norcia and Deutsch — and with junior Sam Shrago lost for the season to injury — Highland Park was unable to mount a comeback.
Sterns led the Giants with 13 points and eight rebounds.
“(Sterns) has been great all year,” Harris said. “He gets rebounds — and he’s giving up a lot of size — he plays great defense, can handle the ball and hit big shots. He took care of the ball when (Norcia) was out. Josh is an unheralded player who is really having a great senior year.”
Norcia scored 12 points, including three on a three-quarter-court heave at the end of the first quarter, which tied the score at 15-15.
And the shot was no fluke.
“If you are at our practice, you’ll see Jake Norcia throwing up those crazy shots, and making them,” Harris said. “I wasn’t surprised. But to see it in the game was pretty cool. It gave us some momentum in the second quarter.”
Wes Kinard added six points for the Giants.
Unsung hero: Senior guard Ti Greenberg (4 points) came off the bench to give the Giants some solid minutes.
“Greenberg gave great energy,” Harris said. “We needed that with some guys in foul trouble.”
Recap: The Giants bounced back from the loss to Niles North with a 41-37 win over Lincoln Park at North Park University on Sunday.
Norcia led HP with 22 points. Senior forward Ross Chukerman had eight points and five rebounds, and Sterns had five points.
On the schedule: Highland Park hosts Glenbrook North at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and welcomes Lake Forest Academy at 7 p.m. Feb. 7.
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