Glenbard West feels the pressure from Oak Park
Senior guard Aidan Gould and his Glenbard West boys basketball teammates knew it would be coming at some point Friday.
In the second quarter Oak Park-River Forest began unleashing its full-court pressure.
"We were (expecting it), but we can't prepare for their quickness and their athleticism," Gould said. "We can't really do that in practice all of the time."
The strategy quickly forced the Hilltoppers to play catch-up throughout the second half and eventually suffer a 56-46 loss in West Suburban Silver action in Glen Ellyn.
Despite scoring just 3 points in the second quarter and committing 21 turnovers, the Hilltoppers (6-8, 1-2) still cut a 13-point, third-quarter deficit to 41-36 with 5:08 left. They then went scoreless the next two minutes.
"I thought our kids played hard. We battled. We just didn't play very well against their pressure," Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder said. "That's something we're going to have to get better at because we're going to see it again the next time and from some other teams in the league. We had way too many turnovers to beat a team like that."
Late in the first quarter, Glenbard West jumped to a 14-5 lead against the Huskies' man-to-man defense, but the tide quickly turned.
Oak Park (7-6, 2-2) answered with its only 3-pointer of the game to begin a 10-0 run and initiate a dominating second quarter.
The Huskies began pressing in the backcourt and double-teaming the ballhandler immediately after he crossed half-court. They also switched to a 1-3-1 zone with hopes of pressuring the Hilltoppers' 3-point shooters.
"They did a very good job of swarming the ball. Their hands were very active," Gould said. "We didn't do a very good job of helping our point guard out. We never really came back to the ball, but not to take any credit from them."
In the second quarter the Hilltoppers had 7 turnovers, were outrebounded 12-1 and made just 1 of 8 shots, a steal and uncontested layup by Gould. Still, Glenbard West only trailed 23-17 at the half.
"The 1-3-1 I don't think hurt us too bad. Just their full-court pressure we didn't handle very well," Hoder said. "They get momentum with their pressure. They're pretty good when they can create some turnovers and get some easy shots."
Reserve Brian Cochrane led the Hilltoppers with 12 points, three 3-pointers and 8 fourth-quarter points.
The Huskies were led by Dallis Flowers with 16 points, their only senior starter, and junior Breshawn Wilkerson had 14 points. A freshman and two sophomores were among their first seven players.
"We knew around mid-January, we were hoping it would start clicking. We're starting to see the confidence grow, the chemistry getting better," Oak Park coach Matt Maloney said. "We're hoping this second half we can start surprising some people."
The Huskies led 39-31 entering the fourth quarter and scored the first bucket to go up by 10. But after two free throws by Justin Pierce, Danny Walker's back-court steal and quick pass to Cochrane for a wide-open lead cut the deficit to 5.
Oak Park, however, scored 8 straight points as the Hilltoppers missed three shots and a 1-and-1 free throw. Four of Glenbard West's previous five losses were by two or three points.
"Coach always preaches keep fighting, never give up," Gould said. "We had plenty of shots. We've just got to start hitting some shots in the stretch, just got to finish them, hit some free throws and it's a different ballgame."
In the midst of a tough stretch, this was only the Huskies' second win in their last six games. Their only other win was an upset of Peoria Manual at the Pontiac Tournament.
They made only 3 of 13 shots in the first quarter Friday.
"We talked about we've got to be able to score so we can get in the press more often," Maloney said. "Once we got a few baskets, we were able to turn them over and speed them up and get them out of rhythm and not allow them to set up."