Glenbard W. beats Proviso West; Wheaton N. over W. Chicago
Proviso West 62, Glenbard West 53, OT: Glenbard West used nearly every ounce of its energy to force overtime against Proviso West on Friday night.
The Hilltoppers rode senior John Shurna, along with clutch performances off the bench, to tie Proviso West 48-48 at the end of regulation.
Once overtime began, though, Glenbard West's collective team fatigue finally got the best of the Hilltoppers, as Proviso West prevailed to a 62-53 victory in Glen Ellyn.
Glenbard West (4-3, 1-2 West Suburban Silver) managed just 2 points in the first 3:15 of the four-minute overtime period. A pair of Shurna 3-pointers in the final minute kept the loss in single digits.
"I think our kids really battled hard to get back in the game, and I think we just kind of ran out of juice a little bit," said Hilltoppers coach Tim Hoder. "It took a lot of energy to get back in it."
The Proviso West Panthers (1-5, 1-1) applied a full-court press nearly the entire game, further draining Glenbard West of its late-game energy reserves.
"When they press the whole game like that, they know eventually that can wear you down," Hoder said. "I think that it did wear on us a little bit.
"Even if they're not getting steals off of it, or even if they're not scoring points off of it, it's still disruptive.
The Hilltoppers took their first second-half lead on a pair of Shurna free throws with 5:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.
After the Panthers widened their lead to 6 points with 2:07 left, Shurna and junior David Martz combined for the last 6 points of regulation to send the game to overtime.
Proviso West entered the extra period ready to claim its first victory of the season. The Panthers scored the first 10 points in overtime, effectively ending Glenbard West's chances at a win.
"We know we needed the win, we know we needed to get the ball inside, (and) we know we needed to get the ball to our key people," Panthers coach Tommie Miller said.
"We know we had to play with a lot of intensity. Intensity was the key in overtime."
Each of Proviso West's five players that started overtime registered at least 2 points.
Miller is hoping Friday's win will propel the Panthers to additional success.
"It was a great win," he said, also citing the importance of a conference victory on the road. "This is a springboard for us."
-- Matthew McClarey
Wheaton North 78, West Chicago 30:ŒWest Chicago coach Kevin Gimre's young team has seen its share of pressure defenses so far this season, but nothing like what Wheaton North threw at it on Friday.
The Falcons blitzed the Wildcats (0-8, 0-3) with a full-court press that brought about 11 turnovers in the first quarter and 21 in the first half. While stifling West Chicago with its defense, the Wheaton North offense took a 13-0 lead four minutes into the contest and never looked back in a 78-30 DuPage Valley Conference boys basketball win in Wheaton.
"Last year we played them and came out a little flat and they got a lead," Falcons guard Steve Pierotti said. "So we wanted to come out early and jump on them."
Mission accomplished. Pierotti had a pair of steals early on as the Falcons (7-1, 3-0) led 20-4 after one quarter, 40-17 at the half and then emptied their bench early in the second half.
"We couldn't handle it, no doubt about it," Gimre said of the Wheaton North pressure. "You know it's coming. There's no gimmicks about it and no secrets about it. You use six, seven guys in practice and it doesn't matter."
Despite efforts to prepare for the Falcons' pressure, the Wildcats just couldn't handle the long arms, quickness and fresh legs that the hosts kept throwing at them.
"We've played defenses that have pressed, but they're very good," Gimre said. "They're very quick. They're good with their hands and their feet and they created a ton of problems for us."
Wheaton North was not too shabby on the offensive end, either. Forwards Tom Fitzpatrick and John Bagge each scored 10 points in limited minutes, while Kristian Rosenberger, Dave Pilalis and T.J. Schalk all nailed at least one 3-pointer.
"We got on them early and often," said Fitzpatrick. "We didn't want to leave any room for errors. Our offense is at its best when we play our best defense."
The lead grew to 63-22 after three quarters and 13 different Falcons scored before the night was over. Trey Martin had 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals off the bench for Wheaton North.
"Our pressure was pretty good, especially early," Falcons coach Jim Nazos said. "It was a total team effort. We had a lot of people off the bench play extended minutes and they contributed as much as the starting five."
For West Chicago, Nick Henke had 6 points and Chad Driscoll and Rhett Gunderson each scored 5 points. Driscoll had a team-high 5 rebounds.
-- Stan Goff
DeKalb 55, Glenbard South 51:ŒGlenbard South coach Wade Hardtke thought he had his squad prepared for DeKalb's 6-foot-10 defensive mountain Jordan Threloff and penetrating ballhandler Jon Umoren.
But after the Raiders took the game's biggest lead, 9 points, with just less than three minutes left in the third quarter, Umoren and Threloff sparked the Barbs on both ends of the court to rally DeKalb to a 55-51 Western Sun Conference victory at Chuck Dayton Gymnasium in DeKalb on Friday night.
"We knew what (Umoren and Threloff) were capable of and we worked on that," Hardtke said. "It came down tonight to execution -- or lack thereof."
Umoren, who had a game-high 19 points, scored 8 straight DeKalb points in a two-minute stretch in the third quarter to help draw the Barbs to within 42-41 to start the fourth.
The senior guard's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter gave DeKalb its first lead since late in the first half.
The Raiders, unable to hit perimeter shots or work the ball effectively inside against Threloff and the Barbs' 3-2 zone defense, missed on their first four shots and turned the ball over once before Brian Smith's jumper cut DeKalb's lead to 49-44 with 4:34 left in the game.
For the game Glenbard South missed 16 of the 19 3-point shots they took but shot more than 51 percent inside the arc.
"We definitely struggled offensively," Glenbard South senior center Andy Manson said. "We practiced against our 6-9 teammate (David Ledwidge) to prepare, so I don't think (Threloff) affected us mentally, but physically he was a big presence in there."
Manson, working hard for his team-high 17 points and 10 rebounds, pulled the Raiders to within 49-47 with 2:29 left. Teammate Wally Wiedner's jumper over Threloff made it 51-49 with 39 seconds left in the game, but Umoren's and Tyler Smith's two free throws sandwiched around a Threloff block preserved the victory for DeKalb (3-5, 2-2).
"Our defense got us going," Barbs coach Dave Rohlman said. "Our zone was effective and that was key since we are not deep enough to play man-to-man nor do we want to be one dimensional on the defensive end of the floor."
Glenbard South (4-4, 1-3) held leads of 14-12 at the end of the first quarter and 26-25 at halftime. But after a delay of several minutes as the game's score was disputed, Will Hill hit a jumper to push the Raiders lead to what appeared to be a comfortable 9 points with 2:51 left in the third quarter.
"The wheels came off," Hardtke said. "We panicked a bit and they stayed poised. Their confidence just continued to grow with each shot they made or defensive stop and put the game over the edge."
-- Dave Rossdeutcher
Wheaton Academy 53, Chicago Christian 45:ŒThe host Warriors (7-2, 2-1) handed Chicago Christian (6-2, 3-1) its first loss in the Private School League behind Ben Euler's team-high 17 points. Jason Roy added 14 points and David Toellen had 10 points.
Lisle 43, Reed-Custer 38:ŒMike Gortowski had 10 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals for the host Lions (2-9, 2-2) in their Interstate Eight Conference win over the Comets (1-10, 0-4). Marcus Wilson scored 11 points.
Hinsdale Central 61, Hinsdale South 52:ŒFour players hit double-figure scoring for the visiting Red Devils (5-3) in their nonconference win. Chris Chana led the way with 19 points. Eric Travis scored 19 points for Hinsdale South (5-3).