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Highland Park needs to regroup after second Deerfield loss

Highland Park junior Toby Tigges gathered himself in the left corner and let a three-pointer fly.

The basketball seemed to be headed for a swish. Instead, it hit the right side of the rim, then bounced off the left end and rattled between for what seemed like a dozen more times before popping back out and falling back down into Deerfield’s possession.

The miss, coming with two minutes left in the third quarter of Friday night’s crucial CSL North matchup between Highland Park and Deerfield, stood as a microcosm the Giants’ evening.

“We had some good looks,” senior guard Luke Norcia said, “but they just didn’t fall that night.”

Leading Deerfield, 12-10, at the first-quarter buzzer, Highland Park scored just three points in the second quarter, five in the third and eight in the final quarter. The Giants lost to the Warriors, 42-28, the team’s second loss at the hands of its archrival this season. The Giants fell to Deerfield at home on Dec. 6, 56-47.

“Nights like that happen,” senior David Sachs said.

With the loss, the Giants fell out of a three-way tie atop the conference standings with Deerfield (13-8, 5-1 CSL North) and Niles North (15-7, 4-2), as the Warriors’ victory propelled them into sole possession of first place thanks to Niles North’s shocking 56-53 loss to Maine East.

“It hurt,” 16th year Highland Park coach Paul Harris said. “One of the things we talked about after the game is that it’s supposed to hurt.

“I would’ve been disappointed if guys weren’t affected by the loss.”

“We always want to beat Deerfield,” senior center Jordan Krawitz said. “It’s a tough loss, but every loss is tough. And we’ve only lost four games, so it’s not a familiar feeling. We always say that we should hate losing more than we like the feeling of winning.”

But just 15 hours after the Giants boarded their bus at Deerfield High School back to Highland Park, they were 30 miles down I-94 at Whitney Young, where the Giants (13-4, 4-2) took on Julian and picked up a 52-36 win.

“We talked about resiliency and resolve,” Harris said. “The guys did a great job of realizing that we only have so many games left … We have to take advantage of every one.”

And the Giants, winners of eight of nine heading into the Deerfield game, recaptured their moxie with the nonconference win.

“It definitely helped us out, especially because it was a morning game,” Norcia said. “We got right back into it and got the W. It gives us our confidence back.

“We’re still a confident team, and we’re still looking forward to a great season.”

The Giants will resume conference play Friday night as they head to Des Plaines to face off against Maine West (3-13, 1-5) at 7:30 p.m.

“Our challenge is to be ready to go against Maine West,” Harris said. “Maine East beat Niles North on Friday night. In our league, anything is possible. We’ve got to keep fighting, keep grinding.”

Sam Brief is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.