Daniel Michelon received an order from Highland Park High School basketball coach Paul Harris at the half of a game at Maine West on Friday night:
“Be shot-ready.”
Michelon, a 5-foot-10 junior guard, was ever-ready, netting 13 points in the third quarter and finishing with a game-high 16 on Feb. 10. But the production wasn’t enough to overcome Maine West’s sizzling start in the Warriors’ 58-44 victory in Des Plaines.
The result left both teams with 6-3 records in the CSL North. HP (12-11) beat MW (14-7) 75-70 in overtime in the teams’ first meeting this winter.
“Maine West played at such a high level early,” said Harris, whose club trailed 13-2 after one quarter and 21-10 at the break. “Their guys got confident as shooters and played very sharp basketball.
“I loved our fight in the second half.”
He also appreciated Michelon’s hot hand. The Giant tallied his team’s first 13 points in the third stanza, with nine coming from three-point hardwood. Junior forward Noah Shutan scored HP’s other three points in the quarter — a quarter in which MW outscored HP 24-16 to open up a 45-26 advantage.
“We need Daniel to do what he did tonight, to play aggressively on offense and to move well without the ball,” Harris said. “I liked how he bounced back — how we all bounced back — in the second half.”
HP won the fourth quarter, 18-13, as junior reserve guard Lucas Fleisher scored all five of his points in the final eight minutes.
Giants junior guard Ziv Tal, who poured in 32 points in the first MW-HP matchup, finished with eight points in the rematch.
Four Warriors scored at least eight points, led by senior guard Jack Framke’s 10. Junior guard Julian Dones scored his 1,000th career point when he hit a trey at 6:54 of the first quarter. It was the second of Maine West’s three consecutive three-pointers in the game’s first two minutes.
HP made its first bucket (a Tyler Gussis field goal) with 2:47 left in the first quarter.
