Highland Park’s Dlugie shines in loss to Maine West
BY MARK PERLMAN Contributor January 13, 2012 11:00PM
Highland Park senior Danny Dlugie fires up a three-pointer in Friday's game against Maine West. | Michael Jarecki ~ for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 20, 2012 8:19AM
With Highland Park High School’s starting five — Jake Norcia, Ross Chukerman, Josh Sterns, Wes Kinard, Justin Deutsch — fairly well, Giants coach Paul Harris has looked to his bench for some additional offensive firepower.
That’s just what Danny Dlugie has been providing with his outside shooting. The senior scored a team-high 13 points in a 45-27 loss against visiting Maine West on Friday. He sank three three-pointers in helping the Giants cut a 23-point deficit to 16.
“Danny came in and gave us a spark. He’s done that a few times for us,” said Highland Park coach Paul Harris.
“The guys were giving me some great assists,” Dlugie said. “They were driving, penetrating and kicking off to me (to the three-point line). My shot felt good.”
But it was another play that caught his coach’s attention. Dlugie was being closely guarded on the outside, so he took a couple of hard dribbles down the baseline and scored on a nifty reverse layup.
“That was a very nice reverse layup. He really plays hard,” Harris said.
“It’s great making (three-pointers), but I also have to take the ball to the basket,” Dlugie said.
Recap: Things started out well for the Giants (9-7, 3-2) in their Central Suburban League North game against Maine West (8-7, 3-2). The Giants grabbed an 8-2 lead in the opening minutes, as Josh Sterns hit back-to-back three-pointers.
But the bottom fell out, and then some, as Maine West went on a 33-4 run en route to the blowout win. No misprint. The Warriors hit seven three-pointers during the amazing surge, while the Giants were 0-for-9 from the field.
“We ran into a buzzsaw,” Harris said. “We came out with a lot of enthusiasm, but then we just weren’t very sharp.”
Sterns had six points and five rebounds, while Ross Chukerman added four points and four rebounds. The Giants were 10-for-38 (26 percent) from the field. Harris pointed to the play of Ti Greenberg (2 points, assist, deflection).
“Ti came in and gave us some very good minutes,” Harris said.
Maine West paid particular attention to Jake Norcia. Highland Park’s leading scorer went scoreless for the first time this season.
Norcia, though, showed his offensive prowess on Jan. 11, scoring 27 points, to go along with nine deflections, five steals and four assists in a thrilling 57-54 victory over host Elk Grove.
Down by six points with less than two minutes left, the Giants rallied behind Norcia and Sterns. With the scored tied at 54-54, Norcia grabbed a defensive rebounded took a couple of dribbles before launching a shot from three-quarters of the court away. Seconds later, his teammates were mobbing him after he sank the improbable shot.
“Jake just let it fly and it went right in,” Harris said. “That was a great win for us.”
Hall of Fame: Just prior to the tip-off on Friday, the following Highland Park student/athletic stars were inducted into the Giants Hall of Fame: Dr. Robert Rosenzweig (team doctor, 1968-93); Louise Sadowsky Brock (three-sport athlete with 12 varsity letters, Class of 1989); John Robbins (state diving champ, Class of 1959); Robert George (basketball all-area, Class of 1952); Gene Melchiorre (four-sport athlete, Class of 1945, No. 1 NBA draft pick in 1951); Midio Zanotti (basketball all-area, Class of 1939); and the 1982 boys basketball team (Sweet 16).
On the schedule: Highland Park will try to bounce back in the Central Suburban League North race, when it visits Maine East at 7:30 p.m. today. The Giants will host Ida Crown at 8 p.m. Saturday.
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