Confident Semaj Henderson, Downers Grove North beat Libertyville

Downers Grove North junior Semaj Henderson isn’t hurting for confidence. He asked Trojans coach Jim Thomas if he could guard Libertyville star Drew Peterson on Saturday.

The answer was no.

“[Peterson] has like nine inches on me,” Henderson said. “I was on him for a little bit.”

Instead, Henderson was a dominant offensive force in Downers Grove North’s 58-49 win against visiting No. 19 Libertyville.

“I was just trying to play the right way,” Henderson said. “I wanted to make sure we played crisp and as a team. I took my shots when I had them. I wasn’t trying to force anything on offense.”

He scored 23 points and shot 6-for-10 from the field.

“Semaj in his own mind can beat Kyrie Irving right now,” Thomas said. “And that’s why you love the guy, he thinks like that. He’s really tough to coach, I’ve never had a kid like him. He’s so physical and crafty with the ball. He can get past everyone. When he makes good decisions we are really good offensively and when he struggles we struggle.”

The Trojans (9-6) held Peterson to just six points. He was 2-for-15 from the field but did contribute nine rebounds and five assists.

“[Downers Grove North junior Scott Jakobsze] is a really intelligent player, very athletic,” Thomas said. “[Peterson] may have struggled a little against Jakobsze but he’s a great player and is going to have a hell of a future.”

Peterson, a 6-8 guard, is generally regarded as the state’s best unsigned senior. He recently visited Wisconsin.

“We don’t notice he only had six points because we were playing so hard,” Downers Grove North’s Keenan Davis said. “Obviously we wanted to contain him as much as we could. It was big stopping that guy, he could have added an extra 15 or 20 to the board.”

The Trojans defense was rock solid overall, limiting Libertyville to six field goals in the second half.

“That’s the best we’ve had our defense function as a whole the entire season,” Thomas said.

Junior Trey Boston scored nine for Downers Grove North and Jakobsze added eight points and eight rebounds.

Davis, a 6-5 senior, came up with several big rebounds late in the game. He finished with seven points and seven rebounds.

“Those are the most important things at the end of the game, rebounds,” Davis said. “To finish off possessions and not give them second chances. Once we get the ball off the rim they will foul us right away.”

That’s what happened and the Trojans shot 15 of 18 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

Downers Grove North beat St. Joseph in the first round of the Proviso West Holiday Tournament, but then lost to several good teams in a row (Oak Park, Bogan, Young).

“It’s great to play that competition and I think the kids really enjoy it,” Thomas said. “It does make you better. But we were struggling internally. Practices got a little more difficult, as a staff you just try and regroup.”

Chase Eyre led Libertyville (10-6) with 18 points and five rebounds and Josh Steinhaus added 12 points.