O’Brien: Undersized Deerfield knocks off Waukegan

Deerfield isn’t going to pass the look test this year. Nothing about the Warriors screams undefeated, on-the-rise high school basketball squad. They have no size and aren’t an especially great group of shooters. Jordan Sherman, a 6-4 senior, is Deerfield’s only real post player.

“Well, that’s Deerfield High School for you,” Warriors coach Dan McKendrick said.

Despite his physical limitations, Sherman was a force on Tuesday in Waukegan. He scored 16 and grabbed nine rebounds to to lead Deerfield to a 50-44 win over Waukegan.

“(Sherman) been like that his whole career,” McKendrick said. “He has a big heart and he’s willing to fight. He doesn’t get all the accolades but he works his tail off against bigger guys every night.”

University of Chicago recruit Jordan Baum is the key to to the Warriors (5-0). The 6-4 senior has to do a little bit of everything. He finished with 12 points and six rebounds. The interplay between Baum and Sherman accounts for the vast majority of Deerfield’s offense.

“I know every time I get the ball (Sherman) going to be in an open spot,” Baum said. “We have trust in each other. We know where the other one is going to be at all times and it shows. It’s just fun to play with him.”

The Bulldogs (4-2) led by seven with two minutes left to play in the third quarter. A 13-0 Deerfield run, ignited by the full court press, put the Warriors ahead for good.

“As a coach I’m learning to trust my players,” McKendrick said. “It’s what our kids like to do the most. It’s what our kids like to do the most and it paid off.”

Deerfield beat Jacobs, another well-regarded team, last week and finds itself on the cusp of the Super 25 rankings.

“I don’t know if other people expected anything from us but we did,” Baum said. “We lost a lot from last year but we’ve been working our butts off in practice.”

Senior Ross Agins was a key to the game-changing full court pressure, as was sophomore guard Alex Casieri,

“We were so inexperienced we thought we might take some lumps early,” McKendrick said. “We knew we were talented, thought we would get better as the season went on. They’ve just been really solid. The moment hasn’t been too big for them.”

Junior DeShawn Davidson scored 12 and grabbed seven rebounds for Waukegan and junior Carson Newsome scored 11. The Bulldogs have a solid junior class and a trio of freshmen that have opened plenty of eyes early in the season.

Freshman Bryant Brown started and contributed four points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Freshman Jordan Brown played a few minutes and freshman Ja’Dyn Brown did not play. Yes, three hyped freshman all named Brown and not related.

The future is bright at Waukegan. Sophomore Kirk Myers was a contributor and only one senior, Cameron Miller, is playing major minutes.