Crow flies, Plainfield N. rolls

Ryan Crow's strong play off the bench continues to spark North.

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PLAINFIELD -- Ryan Crow isn't just the best sixth man in the history of the Plainfield North High School boys basketball program.

He is the best sixth, seventh and eighth man.

Crow is the 6-foot-6 senior who comes off the bench to fill in at as many as three different positions for the Tigers. He has the size to play inside, the length to create mismatches on both ends of the floor and the touch to shoot holes in almost any defense.

Crow poured in 8 of his team-high 17 points in the first quarter of North's 64-50 victory over Romeoville as the two battled for the upper hand in the Southwest Prairie Conference before a big crowd in the Tigers' gym on Tuesday night. He first was summoned to sub for Mike Klett, the 6-5 senior forward who picked up two quick fouls.

Later, Crow found himself occupying a spot on the floor previously held by 6-3 junior forward Chris McMath. McMath exited after tweaking his left ankle.

Off guard, small forward, big forward.

Crow can play all those positions. He probably could play center in a pinch, too.

He rained down two 3-pointers as North set aside coach Nick DiForti's fears of a letdown following a 3-1 showing and third-place finish at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. The Tigers hit 7-of-12 shots and built a 19-6 first-quarter lead. They stretched the margin to 28-10 on a two-hand slam dunk by Kendall Frank at the 3:31 mark of the second quarter.

And, after Romeoville fought back to within 30-25 early in the third, Crow sank his third 3 and helped the Tigers regain control.

He was one of four players to reach double figures as North (14-2, 4-0) once again showed great balance and an ability to create favorable opportunities through unselfish passing.

"That's what Crow does -- he's like the sixth man," the Tigers' 6-6 Scott Vachon said. "He comes off the bench and steps up. He plays just like a starter. He could be starting just like all of us. He does a great job."

Vachon scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and gained the edge in his head-to-head battle with Romeoville's 6-7 Devon Hodges. Both big men grabbed 7 rebounds. Hodges was limited to 8 points on 4-of-7 shooting.

Frank and Reggie Lemon each scored 12 points for the Tigers. Demarius Miller led Romeoville (7-5, 3-1) with 17 points. Earl Bell added 13.

"Coach is really doing a great job with them, and obviously they're playing very well and they're a good team," Romeoville coach Jeff Bambule said of his counterpart, DiForti. "We dug ourselves a big hole. I'm proud of the way we didn't quit. We were down 30-12 or something like that. We cut it to five.

"And, here's the thing, it might seem weird, but today was a step in the right direction. If we continue to play like this, we're going to get better. If we continue to practice like this, we're going to get better.

"I thought we played hard. I thought we played very unselfishly. And, aside from the end there when we were down and had to push things, we were pretty patient on offense. We had some decent shots. They just didn't do down. And that's the thing about them. They've got three or four different guys. Crow's hitting those threes. You can't pick just one to try and stop."

The Spartans had defeated North in five of six previous varsity games and DiForti was concerned his Tigers might fall victim to another ancient history lesson, particularly coming off their recent surge at Pontiac.

"The stage was set at Pontiac for us to be the under dog," he said. "And rode that wave down there. I'm not saying that we were not the under dog in this game, but I was very nervous because Romeoville is a very good team. They can beat you at any second. And they showed they can compete."

The Spartans just didn't have an answer for Crow.

"We like Ryan coming off the bench simply because we can put him in at so many different positions," DiForti said. "Where, at the beginning of the year, he was starting for us because Chris (McMath) was out and we could only get him in at one or two positions. Being more versatile and being an outside threat, it definitely helps us.

"And, he's so long, so defensively I think he's overlooked in that aspect as well."

Crow's points come mostly from the perimeter. Vachon feasts under the basket, whether he's taking a no-look pass from Lemon, a feed from Frank or playing pick-pocket near the mid-court stripe and driving to the basket himself.

"Scotty's been going up against some big guys as well a long with Kendall Frank guarding some of the best D-I players in our state, so they take it personally," DiForti said. "Scotty's a big boy. He banged with Hodges. He's going to be a Big Ten player. So, I think that gave Scotty a little confidence as well going into the rest of the weekend, which is going to be pretty tough."