Boys Basketball: Mark Johnson leads Glenbrook North past Waukegan in OT

Updated: December 2, 2011 10:48PM

Two teams known for plenty of offensive firepower over the years played a solid defensive game as visiting Glenbrook North held off Waukegan 46-40 in overtime on Friday.

With the game tied at 32-32 at the end of regulation, Mark Johnson took over for the Spartans (5-0) — scoring nine of his 13 points on 3 of 3 shooting from the floor and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line in the extra session.

Waukegan’s Akeem Springs (game-high 25 points) bombed home a pair of three-pointers in the extra period, but the Bulldogs (1-3) came up short.

“Give Waukegan credit — they played great defense, but we did too,” Glenbrook North coach Dave Weber said. “[Waukegan] was able to push Andrew McAuliffe [a 6-foot-8 center] around a little bit.”

“I’m proud of our effort,” Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw said. ”It was as good of a defensive performance as we’ve had here in a long time. It was a building block for us. It was the best growth week as a team and a system that we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

Waukegan led 31-28 in the final seconds of the fourth quarter when Kurt Karris (15 points) was fouled while scoring on a drive to the basket. That cut the lead to 31-30. Harris missed the free throw, but Johnson converted the rebound into two points to put the Spartans ahead 32-31.

Waukegan’s Emmanuel January was fouled with four seconds left and made the first of two free throws to tie it, but missed the second and the game went into overtime.

“Waukegan hit some tough shots, but we also have to be able to score better,” Weber said. “We need a couple of guys to come off the bench and score a little for us to help our offense.”

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