Wheaton Warrenville South 61, Glenbard North 27
If playing tough defense really is a lot of fun, then Wheaton Warrenville South had a blast Wednesday night.
The Tigers (15-11, 7-7) allowed visiting Glenbard North a basket off an inbounds play early in the DuPage Valley Conference finale but then blanked the Panthers the rest of the first quarter while taking a 13-2 lead. WW South kept up the tough defense from there, however, while the hosts took a 30-4 lead at the half en route to a 61-27 victory in a tuneup for next week's Class 4A boys basketball playoff opener.
"When you play good defense like that, it makes it a great game to play," said Tigers center Kendrick Perry, who closed out his regular-season career with 8 points, 1 block and 1 crowd-pleasing slam dunk. "It was a fun game. Coach told us to come out with extra intensity for senior night and to make it memorable."
Tigers coach Mike Healy also told his players to pay extra attention to the Panthers' top two scorers -- James Fleming and Reid Hulett. Fleming's only points came on a leaner in the fourth quarter and left Glenbard North (6-19, 5-9) down 46-13 at the time. Hulett, meanwhile, fouled out with just two free throws to his credit. Thanks to the stingy defense, the hosts led 44-9 after three quarters of play.
"We just looked like we really wanted to play defense tonight," Healy said. "We made things difficult. Our focus was on Fleming and Hulett, and the kids did a nice job. It was fun."
While the defense was swarming on the visitors, the one-sided score allowed the Tigers to substitute early and often. Fifteen Tigers saw action, and Byron Given, Derek Babb and Perry led the balanced attack with 8 points apiece. Stephen Mueller, Stephen Dolatowski and Robert Grabek each added 7 points for the Tigers.
For Glenbard North, Ryan Gasiriowski tallied 9 points in the fourth quarter to finish with a team-high 11 points.
-- Stan Goff
Timothy Christian 60, Luther North 54: In a Class 2A Timothy Christian regional semifinal, the host Trojans advanced behind Vince Williams' 16 points, Peter Tameling's 10 points and Jaaron Holmes' 16 points and 4 assists. No. 3 seed Timothy Christian led No. 5 Luther North (11-17) 28-20 at halftime. Luther North was led by Clint Maxon's game-high 21 points. Timothy (17-12) moves to Friday's regional final against No. 2 seed Walther Lutheran (18-9), having already beaten Walther twice this season.