Glenbard West gets impressive win over Glenbard North

Glenbard West 67, Glenbard North 52

The Hilltoppers sure didn't look short-handed.

Playing its opener minus about 10 football players who fell in Saturday's Class 7A semifinals - three who are returning starters to the basketball team - Glenbard West didn't appear fazed in the least in an impressive 67-52 win over Glenbard North.

"Everyone's been working real hard and we just put it together," said Kevin Smith, who scored a team-high 20 points for the Hilltoppers. "Like coach (Tim) Hoder said. We're not holding back. We're not waiting for the football players. We've been working hard in practice trying to get ourselves going."

Leading 45-43 after three quarters the Hilltoppers seized command with an 8-0 start to the fourth. James Fleming, who poured in a game-high 23 points, scored 6 points to pull the Panthers within 55-49 late in the frame. Their press then forced a couple of turnovers, but the Panthers couldn't convert.

Glenbard West answered with a 12-0 run to put the game out of reach at 67-49.

Seven of the Hilltoppers' 11 players scored including a combined 17 points from freshman twins Michael, who had 13 points, and Matthew Mache. Jud Anderson added 14 points.

"It's an interesting story that we have so many football kids," said Hoder, who added that he'll likely have tryouts Friday and Saturday once the football players are back in the mix.

"But these kids have been working," he said. "Obviously we're missing some key ones, but I expected these guys to come out and play hard and compete."