Driscoll 65, Glenbard West 53
The Battle of the Bigs didn't happen.
A circle-the-calendar contest featuring future Division I players, Tuesday's nonconference boys basketball game between host Driscoll and Glenbard West lacked a key ingredient: Glenbard West's 6-foot-8 John Shurna.
The Northwestern-bound center was out with an illness described by Hilltoppers coach Tim Hoder as a sore throat.
"For Johnny to miss school and miss a game, he's got to be hemorrhaging pretty badly," Hoder said.
Glenbard West looked crisp until Driscoll's 6-10 Jake Lindfors and guard David Schwabe took over in a 65-53 Highlanders win in Addison.
"I was looking forward to the matchup all day, all week. We've been practicing for it," said the Albany-bound Lindfors, who had game highs of 28 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks. Schwabe scored 19 points.
"He's a great player," Lindfors said. "We know each other pretty well, so I was definitely looking forward to the match. I thought it'd be a lot of fun."
Glenbard West (10-9) had fun for most of the game. The Hilltoppers stormed out to a 23-11 first-quarter lead as Shane Bryant and reserve Kevin Smith led six scorers.
As 260-pound Chris Watt combated foul trouble giving up 6 inches to Lindfors, and 6-2 Bryan Emmanuel taking Lindfors when Watt was on the bench, Glenbard West survived a Driscoll 12-0 run to stay up 35-30 at halftime.
Smith made a pair of 3s and had 12 of his team-high 14 points by halftime.
"They were beating us down the floor and shooting wide-open 3s," said Driscoll coach Nick Latorre. "We made a concerted effort to make sure we got back and find their shooters and make them run offense."
Driscoll (16-7) trailed 46-40 entering the fourth quarter when Lindfors and Schwabe led a 25-point assault, aided by ball pressure from Justin Hejza and Steven Schwabe, plus 3 Lindfors blocks.
David Schwabe's basket after an offensive rebound by his brother to give the Highlanders a 54-50 lead was the point Latorre thought Shurna was truly missed.
"At that point of the game, it was a huge factor, John not playing," he said.
"You're taking a kid out who plays the whole game," said Emmanuel, who scored 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Bryant scored 12.
"It's tough to find someone to fill that role. It was hard. The first three quarters we were right there. We just kind of died off towards the end."