Glenbard East 48, Naperville Central 37

While each team took turns winning a quarter Friday night, Glenbard East owned the final two minutes of Friday's boys basketball game at Naperville Central, and that was the difference.

After the Redhawks' Matt Jones drove the lane for a layup that closed the gap to 39-37, he had a chance to complete a three-point play and pull Naperville Central within a point. Instead, Jones was off target, and the visiting Rams proceeded to close out their DuPage Valley Conference road win with a 9-0 run to hand the hosts a tough 48-37 loss for an 0-2 start to the DVC and their third straight setback after opening 4-0.

Rams senior guard Derak Stanback played a big role in sealing the deal. He connected on all six of his free throws in the fourth quarter as Glenbard East (4-2, 2-0) outscored Naperville Central 20-10.

"We were fighting and we knew we had to do all the little things," said Stanback, who finished with a game-high 16 points, 10 of which came from the line. "Coach told us at halftime that it looked like it would come down to crunch time and that we had to focus on our free throws. We worked too hard to let it get away."

The Redhawks led 6-2 less than three minutes into the contest and held an 8-3 lead after one quarter. But at one point they scored just 2 points over a 6½-minute span, and the Rams went ahead 22-19 at the break after Ben Trefilek tallied 9 of his 11 points in the second quarter.

Drew Crawford, who was plagued by foul trouble most of the night, did hit a 3-pointer and a 2 as the Redhawks held a slight 8-6 edge in the third quarter to enter the final period down just 28-27. Just 57 seconds into that final quarter, however, Crawford picked up his fourth foul and did not return until 2:29 remained and Glenbard East on top 39-35.

The Redhawks were still very much in the game at that point but eventually were done in by some untimely turnovers and at the foul line. While the Rams made good on 20 of 27 free throws on Friday, the Redhawks made just 12 of 21, including 5 misses late.

"We didn't execute. We didn't finish the game," Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer said. "It's a tough loss because it's on our home floor and I feel like we let one slip away. But give them credit. They made plays and hit their free throws."

Rams coach Scott Miller, whose young team got even younger when sophomore center Danzel Walker made his varsity debut Friday, was thrilled with a hard-fought road win.

"The last two, three minutes we were patient with the basketball and we executed," he said. "Being a young, inexperienced team we know we're going to get better. Any win now is a huge plus."

The 6-foot-4 Walker had 3 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots off the bench for the Rams, while Crawford, Jones and Matt Neufeld each had 6 rebounds to pace Naperville Central, which has a tough game tonight at Neuqua Valley.