Lawrence North 79, Glenbrook North 61
Wildcats pounce on Illinois' best
Lawrence North holds 6-6 Scheyer in check; Conley's play leaves strong impression
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The anticipation for Saturday's showdown was all about Greg Oden vs. Jon Scheyer
The talk afterward was all about the Lawrence North duo of Oden and Mike Conley.
Oden had 31 points and 11 rebounds and Conley added 24 points and spearheaded a defense that held Scheyer in check in the Wildcats' 79-61 victory over Glenbrook North.
"Oden, obviously, his size is a factor, but Conley is the best player we've seen," Glenbrook North coach David Weber said after the marquee game in the McDonald's City-Suburban Showdown. "We had no answer for him. It was a show. We'd play off him, and he'd hit the 3. We'd go out, he'd penetrate.
"(Oden) is a lot like Chamberlain with the shot-blocking ability. I think he can play in the NBA right now. I really think he can. And I think Conley is making his steps."
The ballyhooed showdown between Oden, the reigning national high school Player of the Year, and Scheyer, a star 6-6 guard headed to Duke, drew 8,494 with standing-room-only admission -- more than the listed 8,117 seating capacity for Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The match-up created such a fervor people started lining up at 10 a.m. for the 80 standing-room-only tickets that remained. While the first game of the doubleheader was going on, scalpers were getting $100 for the $12 tickets.
After the game, it took a uniformed police officer and several event staff workers to escort Oden off the court through the throngs of autograph seekers.
Oden, who lost a contact lens in the second quarter and played a stretch with only one, shot 12-for-19 from the field and 7-for-9 from the free throw line. Conley was 10-for-18 from the field to go with four assists.
"You get a lot of pressure on you to score 40 points every night, but if you've got somebody else who can score 20 and you can score 20, it makes it that much better," Oden said.
Lawrence North, 19-0 and on a 35-game winning streak, was playing its first game outside of Indiana in the Oden-Conley era.
"Everyone was really excited to be in Chicago," Oden said. "I'm looking out the window of our hotel -- I never sleep with the window open -- but I'm just looking at the lights. Right before the game, Mike went up after coach talked and put 'have fun' on the board."
Scheyer scored the first 11 points for Glenbrook North (20-2) and Oden had 12 in the first quarter as Lawrence North jumped ahead 20-15 on the defending big-school state champion from Illinois.
The Wildcats used both Conley and Brandon McDonald on Scheyer the rest of the way, keeping him from taking over.
Scheyer, averaging 32 points, scored 33 but shot 9-for-21 from the field and was held in check for stretches. He had only one basket in the first 11 minutes of the second half as Lawrence North took over.
"That's us," Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer said. "We're a defensive team first. Greg's a great player, and we use him and he does a great job, but we try not to make it a one-guy team. He's one of five guys. That's the way we want it and that's the way he wants (it)."
Scheyer called Lawrence North the best team he's played against.
"I wasn't afraid. I wasn't going to back down," Scheyer said. "He blocks a few, but you just have to be smart, and we could have been smarter in a few areas."
The Lawrence North-Glenbrook North game will be replayed at 8 p.m. March 8 on INHD, a high-definition channel available on DirecTV and some cable systems, organizers said.
Lawrence North20212117--79Glenbrook North15121519--61
Lawrence North -- Owen 1-2 2-3 4, McDonald 3-11 0-0 7, Conley 10-18 2-2 24, Windham 5-7 1-6 11, Oden 12-19 7-9 31, Bibbs 0-0 0-0 0, L. Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Weigel 0-0 0-0 0, W. Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Read 0-0 2-2 2, VanTreese 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 31-59 14-22 79.
Glenbrook North -- Cullitan 2-3 0-0 6, Scheyer 9-21 10-13 33, Shamis 4-6 0-0 9, Kelly 2-3 0-0 5, Radke 1-4 0-0 2 Karis 0-0 0-0 0, Bulwa 0-0 0-0 0, Jacobson 0-1 0-0 0, Lasky 0-0 0-0 0, Raming 0-0 0-0 0, Prosperi 0-0 0-0 0, Stamas 2-4 1-2 6, Rosen 0-0 0-0 0, Ponticelli 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-42 11-15 61.
3-point shooting -- Lawrence North 3-10 (Conley 2-6, McDonald 1-4), Glenbrook North 10-20 (Scheyer 5-9, Cullitan 2-3, Shamis 1-2, Stamas 1-3, Kelly 1-2, Radke 0-1). Rebounds -- Lawrence North 40 (Oden 11), Glenbrook North 15 (Shamis 5). Assists -- Lawrence North 19 (McDonald 7, Conley 4), Glenbrook North 13 (Shamis 3, Stamas 3). Turnovers -- Lawrence North 7, Glenbrook North 13. Total fouls -- Lawrence North 14, Glenbrook North 18. Fouled out -- Kelly. Officials -- Connie Pier, Paul Mosely, Chuck McNellis.
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