Deerfield has rough go with Niles North
by Danny mehigan Contributor January 13, 2012 10:46PM
Deerfield's Alex Sacks (No. 5) challenges a Niles North defender by taking the ball to the hoop in Friday's game. | Brian O'Mahoney~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 20, 2012 8:11AM
Deerfield has had its share of ups and downs recently, and after getting blasted by Highland Park on Jan. 6, the team held a players-only meeting.
While the Warriors crushed Wheeling a day later, the bad reared its head again in a 66-48 home loss to Niles North on Friday.
But it wasn’t all bad. Deerfield (6-9 overall, 2-3 CSL North) frustrated the Vikings (11-5, 3-2) for the better part of a half, and held a 16-15 lead midway through the second quarter. The defending conference champion Vikes went on a 12-2 run to end the period, then extended the run to 29-6 over the first few minutes of the third quarter before coasting to the 18-point final margin.
“The little run took away some of our energy going into the half and it was an uphill battle from there,” said Deerfield senior Mack Watts. “We kept fighting and I’m proud to see that — it’s good to see signs of improvement.”
Sophomore post Michael Alfieri scored 10 first-half points against North’s small lineup, but picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter. It was up to Watts to carry the offensive load for the Warriors.
Watts hit a deep three-pointer to finally end the long run, then made a layup before hitting another three to end the third quarter. Watts added two more free throws in the fourth to finish with 14 points while also grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Alfieri had 14 points and seven boards.
“When Mike’s in there, he’s a big part of it, and keeps that inside-out game flowing,” Watts said. “When he goes out of the game, guys like Alex and I need to step up and get to the basket. I thought we did it for about a half, and we had spurts in the second half, but it’s hard to play at your pace when they’re up in your face all game pressuring you. It’s hard to slow the game down. We have a lot of young guys that are still learning that you have to go hard every day if you want it to matter on Friday nights. It didn’t happen tonight, but if we keep it up, it’ll help us in the future.”
In the postgame talk, Deerfield coach JJ Pearl and his players were ready to shake off the loss and move forward. Watts and fellow senior captain Alex Sacks are starting to take the initiative in practice.
“(Watts) started playing with a sense of urgency and that’s why he’s a captain,” Pearl said. “He puts us on his back sometimes. A lot of the seniors are recognizing that, in two months, their senior season is over. So they’re playing with a sense of urgency. They’re giving everything they have because they don’t want to have any regrets, so kudos to them. I told them, ‘Guys, this is life. You have bad days at work and you have to get up the next day and learn from it. We’re learning a lot about ourselves, but we need to keep our heads high and work hard to get ready for Maine West. Our guys are resilient and they have a lot of pride. The results aren’t what they want, but there’s only one way to get there, and that’s to work hard.”
Deerfield visits Maine West on Friday and Lincoln Park for a nonconference game Saturday afternoon.
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