Glenbard West downs Hinsdale Central
Glenbard West's boys basketball team hasn't suffered a losing streak all season.
The Hilltoppers weren't about to start one Saturday.
Rallying from a 10-point deficit heading to the fourth quarter, Glenbard West stormed to a 64-52 West Suburban Silver victory over Hinsdale Central in front of a packed house in Glen Ellyn.
Glenbard West, which suffered a last-second loss to Wheaton North on Friday, dominated the final eight minutes to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time.
The fourth quarter stats were staggering. Glenbard West (17-2, 5-1) outscored the Red Devils (9-10, 3-4) 28-6 including an 18-2 start.
Hinsdale Central, which knocked down 7 of 8 third-quarter shots from the field and six 3-pointers, missed its first 10 fourth-quarter shots and made only 1 of 13 attempts overall.
"They played real well for the first three quarters," said Hilltoppers guard Alex Passi, who scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. "They came out really strong to start and kept the momentum. We were able to get some stops in the fourth quarter and then the momentum shifted to our side."
After starting the game on an 8-0 run, Hinsdale Central led until Hilltoppers forward Justin Pierce, who scored 12 of his game-high 24 points and grabbed 9 of his 11 rebounds in the fourth quarter, knocked down a pair of free throws with 3:21 left in the game to put his team ahead to stay at 49-48.
Glenbard West's run continued with 11 of the game's next 12 points. Trevor Hamilton finally made a 3-pointer for Hinsdale Central, the team's lone fourth-quarter field goal, with just 12 seconds remaining.
The fourth quarter stood in complete contrast to the third when Hinsdale Central seemed to hit everything on the perimeter. Drew Shepherd, who led the Red Devils with 20 points off the bench, scored 12 points in the quarter while Hamilton and Brad Huth added three 3-pointers. Hinsdale Central led by as many as 11 points before taking a 46-36 advantage to the fourth quarter.
"The biggest thing was getting some stops," said Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder, whose team committed only 2 turnovers. "The fourth quarter we tightened up a bit and that was the difference."
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