Boys Basketball: Highland Park has no answer for league leader Glenbrook North
BY MARK PERLMAN Contributor February 4, 2012 12:04AM
Highland Park's Danny Dlugie (No. 5) and Josh Sterns apply pressure on Glenbrook North guard Kurt Karis during Friday's game. | Michelle LaVigne~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 10, 2012 8:11AM
A packed Exhibition Gym on Friday was buzzing with anticipation whether Highland Park could get back into the Central Suburban League North boys basketball race against league-leading Glenbrook North.
Unfortunately for Giants fans, the answer was quite apparent early, as Glenbrook North (15-5, 6-2) raced out to a 17-0 lead after one quarter en route to a 44-20 victory over Highland Park (12-9, 4-4).
“They imposed their will on us. They were just relentless,” said Highland Park coach Paul Harris. “We tried to ignore the scoreboard, but it’s hard to do.”
However, there may have been one Giant who imposed his will on the Spartans. Ross Chukerman battled throughout the night against his much taller opponents, and more than held his own.
“Ross alters shots, and he’s active on the glass on both ends. He just battles,” Harris said. “He made some great hustle plays that he’s been doing all year for us.”
Standing 6-foot-4, the senior was up against Glenbrook North stars Andrew McAuliffe (6-8) and Mark Johnson (6-6).
“The physical effort was there by everyone,” Chukerman said. “We’re not the biggest team (on the boards), but everybody was working as hard as they could.”
Chukerman was able to come away with a game-high 11 rebounds, along with two blocked shots, to help keep the Spartans’ offense somewhat at bay.
“We didn’t execute our offense and we didn’t show great poise,” Chukerman said. “We’re going to learn from what we did and move forward … can’t dwell on the loss.”
Recap: In getting shut out in the first quarter, the Giants were 0-for-10 from the field, with nine turnovers. The same thing almost happened in the third quarter, until Jake Norcia hit a desperation heave from just inside halfcourt, at the buzzer, to make the score 36-10.
Highland Park entered the contest committing just over 10 turnovers per game, but finished with 17 this time.
“They got us on our heels with those turnovers,” Harris said.
“We know we’re better than this,” Chukerman said.
Norcia led Highland Park with 10 points (3 three-pointers), while Max Kaplan came off the bench to score five points in the final minutes.
“As coaches we’ve got to go back and figure out how we can get better,” Harris said. “We’ve got a group of players who are very invested and have been working hard. It just wasn’t our night.”
New face: With starting point guard Justin Deutsch suffering from a shoulder injury, Harris brought up freshman David Sachs for Friday’s game. Sachs saw several minutes off the bench. Though he didn’t score, Sachs showed deft passing ability while bringing energy.
“To have another ball handler in the game was helpful,” Harris said. “I thought he came in and played unafraid. He played really well.”
Harris is hoping to have Deutsch back before the end of the year.
“He’s poised. He’s got a very good assist-to-turnover ratio,” Harris said “There’s no doubt Justin brings a certain element of calm to our team.”
On the schedule: Highland Park will visit Deerfield for the second time this season at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Giants used a 22-5 run en route to a 56-39 victory over the Warriors on Jan. 6. Deerfield, though, showed its mettle earlier in the season, defeating Glenbrook North in overtime.
The Giants will face Niles West in Skokie at 6 p.m. Saturday.
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