Glenbard East 57, West Aurora 49
The seniors on Glenbard East's boys basketball team have largely been overshadowed this season by the success last year's Rams earned, which included a DuPage Valley Conference title and a deep postseason run.
Sitting with an 11-13 record entering Wednesday's senior night game against West Aurora, the Class of 2008 hoped to make memories of its own.
Using a strong first half both from the outside and in the paint, Glenbard East fought for a hard-earned 57-49 victory over the Blackhawks in Lombard.
Glenbard East (12-13, 7-7) fed off its own collective energy right from the opening tip, taking a 13-7 lead after one quarter while outrebounding West Aurora 9-2.
An emphasis on rebounding along with strong interior play helped jettison the Rams to the early lead.
"We did a great job on the glass. That was probably the difference in the game," Glenbard East coach Scott Miller said. "We held them to one shot, and then at the other end we were able to space the floor and throw it in to (forward Paul) Sanders."
Though quiet in the first quarter, the 6-foot-4 Sanders emerged throughout the second period, racking up 7 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor to help give the Rams a 26-10 advantage at halftime.
"Every game he's just getting better and better," Miller said of Sanders, who scored a game-high 24 points. "This was obviously the best game he's played so far, and I thought our kids did a good job of getting him the ball at the right times and making good decisions with it."
West Aurora (17-7, 9-5) made a push at the outset of the second half, scoring 18 points in the third quarter. The Blackhawks dented Glenbard East's lead to 30-23 on a Tyler Thompson basket midway through the quarter but were unable to check the Rams offense.
"You knew they were going to come out and shoot the ball better than they did in the first half, and we just talked to our guys about not letting them go on any runs," Miller said.
West Aurora closed within 5 points with 1:11 remaining in the fourth quarter on a Mike Postuwait layup but could inch no closer.
"We had no offense at all in the first half," Blackhawks coach Gordon Kerkman said. "Second half we got some ball movement, cut our turnovers down … but we dug ourselves a little bit too big a hole in the first half."