Glenbard West 40, Naperville Central 36
The feed-in game only fed their hunger.
The regional semifinal gave them confidence.
Friday, they became champions.
Overcoming its 13th seed in the Class 4A East Aurora sectional, Glenbard West's boys basketball team upset No. 5 Naperville Central 40-36 to win the Naperville North regional title.
Returning to East Aurora for a second straight year with just one returning starter, the Hilltoppers (16-12) will face No. 8 Bartlett, an 86-63 winner over No. 1 Batavia, in Tuesday's sectional semifinals.
After knocking out the fourth and fifth seeds, the Hilltoppers look ready to defend their sectional title.
"We just played our hearts out," said Hilltoppers senior John Shurna, the team's lone returning starter, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds. "Everyone was stepping up. Tyler (Warden) played awesome on Drew (Crawford). Shane (Bryant) hit big shots. It was a great team effort."
Trailing 29-21 heading to the fourth quarter, Glenbard West made its run. The Hilltoppers scored the game's final 9 points, holding Naperville Central and Crawford scoreless for the final 2:05.
Twice the Redhawks missed the front end of 1-and-1 free-throw opportunities, the first leading to Bryant's NBA-length 3-pointer, and the second leading to Shurna's bucket that put the Hilltoppers ahead 37-36 -- their first lead since 4-2 in the first quarter.
"We kind of let them back in the game," said Redhawks coach Pete Kramer. "We're disappointed, but at the same time the kids had a great year. For this team to win 20 games was a huge achievement. They were (DuPage Valley) conference champions, which was a huge achievement."
Bryant, who scored all 8 of his points in the fourth quarter, hit his first 3-pointer to bring Glenbard West within 29-27 early in the period. Naperville Central withstood the 6-0 run, building the lead back to 36-31 on Crawford's free throw with 2:05 left.
With the 6-foot-4 Bryant and 6-6 sophomore Tyler Warden taking turns guarding the 6-4 Crawford, the talented junior had to work hard for every one of his 17 points.
"Drew Crawford was awesome tonight. I don't think I could have done a better job on him," Bryant said. "I'm just glad we're going back to the sectional. East Aurora's such a special place."
Crawford scored the first two baskets of the second half as the Redhawks built their biggest lead of 24-15. Shurna kept the Hilltoppers close by scoring all of his team's 6 points in the third quarter.
Glenbard West made 8 of 22 free throws, including 9 fourth-quarter misses and 4 straight in the final 30 seconds. Off a miss with 3.4 seconds left and Glenbard West ahead 39-36, Warden grabbed a huge offensive rebound and split a pair of free throws to seal the win.
"It's unbelievable," Hilltoppers coach Tim Hoder said about the program's return to the sectional. "It's so hard to do. This says a lot about our kids' resiliency."