Waukegan knocks off undefeated Hersey to three-peat as Elgin Holiday Tournament champs

Waukegan’s well-known big three of Simereon Carter, Jaali Rico Love and Carter Newsome are the reason the Bulldogs earned a preseason ranking and enjoy a lofty reputation as a dangerous team in the area.

That trio is a lot for any high school team to worry about defending, which leaves room for the talented supporting cast to do a lot of damage. That was the case in No. 19 Waukegan’s 63-55 win against No. 14 Hersey in the Elgin Holiday Tournament championship game on Saturday.

“People don’t know how good the rest of the team is,” Love said. “They don’t have time to worry about [Trey’Veon Roberts and Adrian Serrano and Ryan Brown] and those guys can be brilliant, and they keep getting better. They can’t stick all of us.”

Love led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds. The uncommitted 6-7 wing is one of the most tantalizing college prospects in the senior class. He isn’t a polished, finished product yet but he shows flashes of his potential every game with a light shooting touch and high athleticism.

Roberts stepped up in the key moment of the fourth quarter, scoring four consecutive baskets after Hersey cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 49-46.

“I was just trying to win,” Roberts said. “We came all this way, and I wanted to finish the job.”

The Bulldogs (11-3) jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead, harassing Hersey into multiple turnovers. The Huskies guards never seemed to settle in comfortably after that.

“We need to be disruptive,” Waukegan coach Ron Ashlaw said. “All these MSL teams and teams in our conference run so much stuff. We’d be practicing for seven hours if we were going to break down everything they do. So, we just try to be as disruptive as possible and make them have to make plays.”

Roberts finished with 15 points and four steals. Newsome, the point guard and team leader, added nine points and five rebounds. Serrano had 10 points and six rebounds.

“The key was to play fast,” Love said. “We were running and gunning. Jumping them. We aren’t going to change who we are.”

Carter, Waukegan’s leading scorer this season, missed the last several games with an injury and only played a few minutes of the second quarter but managed to score four points and grab four rebounds.

Jake Nawrot, Hersey’s star quarterback with multiple college offers, continues to dominate in basketball as well. The junior finished with 24 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies (11-1). Senor Logan Luxem added 13 points.

Waukegan has won all three tournaments since Elgin started back up. Ashlaw says his team is happy at the tournament, which is consistently improving.

“I like the direction things are going,” Ashlaw said. “They are bringing in better teams. We’d like to stay. They are good to us, and they take care of us.”