Boys Basketball: Glenbrook North runs past Maine East
BY PATRICK KELLY Contributor January 13, 2012 10:12PM
Park Ridge, 01/13/12--Maine East's Adrian Skorka wrestles a rebound away from Glenbrook North's Mark Johnson. Maine East HS hosted Glenbrook North HS in boys basketball Friday evening. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 23, 2012 3:45PM
It didn’t take Glenbrook North long at the start of the second half Friday night to turn a relatively close contest against Maine East into a runaway victory.
Junior Kurt Karis took advantage of three Blue Demons’ turnovers to score nine straight points and give Glenbrook North a 21-point lead with less than three minutes gone in the half, allowing the Spartans to claim a 75-53 Central Suburban League North victory in Park Ridge.
“Coach (Dave) Weber was telling us to play defense, and he always gets on me to play hard, so I did,” Karis explained. “That is how we came out with the intensity that we needed to, because we ended the first half on a good run.”
Maine East trailed from the start but was able to cut a 15 point, first-half deficit to 34-28 with 40 seconds left in the second stanza after a basket by freshman Abby George. Jason Markus (9 points) responded by hitting his only two shot attempts of the half — back-to-back three-pointers in less than eight seconds — including one with a second remaining to give the Spartans a 40-28 lead at intermission.
Senior forward Mark Johnson paced Glenbrook North (13-3, 4-1) early, collecting 15 of his game-high 25 points in the first half. He shot 8-for-9 from the field, while also hitting 9-for-11 from the free-throw line.
Karis collected four steals and hit 10 of 13 shots, including four straight in the third stanza, finishing with 22 points. Adam Chick was the other Spartan to click for double figures, totaling 10 points and seven rebounds.
Senior Aaron Shannon knocked down two three pointers and led the Blue Demons with 13 points. Freshman Ezeke Omeke had six points in the final period to finish with nine points, while Evan Nazzal (9 points) connected on three shots from long distance for Maine East (4-12, 0-5).
“In the first half, I was struggling really bad,” Shannon said. “Coach (Dave Genis) told me at half to just focus and play my game, and try to get my teammates involved.”
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