Glenbard South 50, WW South 42

Saturday night's nonconference boys basketball game at Wheaton Warrenville South could have gone very badly for Glenbard South.

Instead it could be just the thing the Raiders needed.

Glenbard South scored the first 16 points, then didn't fold when the Tigers came back, winning 50-42 in Wheaton.

"This was a huge game for us because all year long we've been talking about getting over the hump," Raiders coach Wade Hardtke said. "We're able to get a couple of wins together and then there's something that sets us back.

"I think this is the one that we've been looking for that's going to spark us and springboard us through the rest of the season. When we needed to step up and be huge, we did. We stepped up, and we were able to close this one out."

"We had a good week of practice," added senior forward Chase Madigan. "Coach has been getting us ready for this game. (We're) heading into the (sectional) seeding next week, so this is a big game for us, kind of a rival. We just came out ready to go."

The Raiders (10-8) got a fantastic start against their Butterfield Road neighbors, hitting 7 of their first 8 shots while the Tigers were missing their first 8 before Ty Peterson's putback at the 3:14 mark got WW South on the scoreboard.

"That's the best we've looked," Hardtke said. "By far, that's the best we've looked. I'm not sure we're capable of playing any better than we did at the beginning of the game. And it was fun to see it happen."

The Tigers (12-7) gradually crept back into the game, finally taking a 37-35 lead with 2:06 to play in the third quarter on a Kendrick Perry basket. They led 39-38 at the end of the third, but the fourth quarter was all Glenbard South. The Raiders outscored the Tigers 12-3 in the final eight minutes.

"We did some decent things, and some bench kids, they came to compete," Tigers coach Mike Healy said. "But Glenbard South just absolutely competed harder than we did for 32 straight minutes. We might have gotten them in a three-minute spurt here and there, but overall they got us good."

Will Hill scored 14 points to lead the Raiders, Andy Manson added 12 and Madigan had a career-high 11.

"It's a little above my average," Madigan said. "Normally I'm playing because of defense, but I had some fall tonight, so that was good."

"He started for us, he hasn't gotten as many minutes here as of late, and tonight he stepped up huge," Hardtke said. "We wanted him to play some solid defense. And we talked about coming into tonight that they were probably going to help off of him (defensively) and he had to be ready to score, and he stepped up and did both tonight for us."

Senior Dane Olson came off the bench to lead the Tigers with 10 points.