Dukan silences hecklers in Deerfield's regional title win

Senior nets 28 points, 11 rebounds as Warriors top Libertyville 56-37

After Deerfield senior forward Duje Dukan missed a basket and drew his second personal foul in the opening minutes of the first quarter, Libertyville fans yelled “overrated” at the 6-foot-8 star.

But it didn’t take long for the Wisconsin-bound senior to silence his critics as Dukan led the Warriors to their first regional championship since 2002 in a 56-37 blowout win over Libertyville (14-14) Friday night in Deerfield.

The Deerfield (25-3) offense was a bit slow to produce points as both teams played to a 3-3 tie in the first five minutes of the game.

But once the taunts came on, so did Dukan, who led the Warriors on a game-changing 12-3 run to close out the first quarter for a 15-6 lead.

“I don’t know what it is, but when someone (taunts me), it gets me going,” said Dukan, who led all scorers with 28 points and 11 rebounds. “I don’t know what it is about it, but it stimulates me to play harder and it just happened to work out my way.

“We came out with a lot of energy and we were ready to go. That was the big key moment for us.”

Things didn’t exactly start smoothly for Dukan, whose second foul irked his head coach on the sideline.

“Obviously, I’m praying to everyone in the building that he wouldn’t take a third,” Deerfield coach Bret Just said of Dukan. “But then he did a great job of not forcing the contact. And then he started going crazy, which helped.”

Deerfield’s defense continued to stymie Libertyville, denying the Wildcats a basket for the first three minutes of the second quarter.

The Warriors’ 2-3 zone wreaked havoc, forcing Libertyville to shoot from the perimeter, which proved to be ineffective. Deerfield closed out the half with a 27-14 lead.

Deerfield, the No. 2 seed in the Waukegan Sectional, was limited to 39 points against Highland Park’s tough zone Tuesday night. But against No. 10 seed Libertyville, Dukan lauded his guards for being able to solve the Wildcats’ zone.

“Our guards did a good job of penetrating the zone and kicking it out to me for open shots or down low, and I think that was the key for us tonight,” Dukan said.

Deerfield, which struggled at 12-15 last season, is continuing to ride high through a season of firsts for Just, who is in only his second year as coach at the school.

“Our goals this year were to win the conference and win the regional,” Just said. “It looks like we’re going to have to alter those a little bit now, but one at a time this team has been doing it all year.

“Sometimes you don’t always get what you deserve. But this is a case where the guys got what they deserved. They worked their butts off for many years. They performed tonight under the bright lights and got it done.”

Deerfield also received significant contributions from senior forward Oren Schwartz with 11 points, followed by senior forward Adam Rhum (7 points, 7 rebounds) and senior guard David Panter (4).

The focus now shifts to No. 13 seed Schaumburg, which defeated Hoffman Estates 44-28 to clinch the Schaumburg Regional championship Friday.

Deerfield will play the Saxons (15-11) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Class 4A Waukegan Sectional semifinals.

“You’ve got to come out and play hard,” Dukan said. “It’s the sectional semifinals. It’s going to be a big competition, big crowd and you’ve got to come out ready to play.”

Chicago Sun-Times article: Dukan overcomes fouls, Wildcats