Raiders defense takes its turn
Glenbard South's offense took over on Monday.
The defense had its turn on Tuesday.
Tonight? It's anybody's guess.
But if the first two rounds of the District 87 Thanksgiving boys basketball tournament are any indication, it'll be pretty entertaining.
The Raiders (2-0) stayed unbeaten in the tourney with a 50-44 slugfest victory over rival and host Glenbard West Tuesday in Glen Ellyn.
If Glenbard South beats Glenbard North tonight, the Raiders will clinch the outright tournament title.
"We just grinded one out right there," said Raiders coach Wade Hardtke. "We struggled offensively and never seemed to get in a rhythm. I think a little bit of tired legs showed up from last night."
Last night referred to Monday's exhilarating 86-81 overtime win over Glenbard East.
Tuesday's grind against Glenbard West (1-1) presented a different challenge as the Raiders made only 10 of 43 shots through three quarters. They weren't much better from the line, hitting only 13 of 27 free throws in the game.
Luckily, 6-foot-6 senior Jordan Harks seemed immune to all of it. He scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting while knocking down his 5 free-throw attempts and grabbing 9 rebounds.
After scoring half his team's points, though, only one thing was on Harks' mind.
"I don't care if I don't score at all," he said. "As long as we get the win, that's all that matters. We started out real slow but in the second half we really started playing strong."
The Raiders fell behind 35-31 early in the fourth quarter but a 6-0 burst, capped by Sam Mitchell's basket, put the Raiders ahead 37-35.
Ralondo Shumate sparked an even bigger lead when he nailed a 3-pointer, stole the inbounds pass and scored again to put the Raiders on top 44-39 with 1:38 left. Even though the free-throw struggles continued, the defense held Glenbard West without a field goal for the final 2:07.
Kevin Smith led the Hilltoppers with 15 points, while Jud Anderson added 11.
"I think that's a product of it being early in the year and playing a game with intensity that you can't duplicate in practice," said Hilltoppers coach Tim Hoder, whose team continues to compete without their many football players. "I'm sure if we played later in the year it wouldn't be quite so ugly, but the kids would compete just as hard."
Glenbard East 68, Glenbard North 55: In a preview of two DuPage Valley Conference showdowns later this season, the Rams (1-1) pulled away in the second half of their win over Glenbard North (0-2).
After allowing 86 points in a loss to Glenbard South, the Rams tightened the defensive screws against the Panthers. A 14-2 run early in the fourth quarter turned a 2-point game into a 59-45 advantage.
"I thought our defensive intensity was much better," said Rams coach Scott Miller. "We were much more solid as a defensive unit."
On offense Glenbard East was plenty balanced. Four players hit double-figure scoring led by Jack Merrithey's 18 points, half of that total coming in the fourth quarter.
"We came together in the second half," Merrithey said. "We played the way we're capable of playing."
Glenbard North led much of the first quarter, but an 8-3 Rams run gave them the lead for good midway through the second quarter.
James Fleming led the Panthers with 14 points while Reggie Davis added 12 points off the bench and Alex Smith scored 10 points.
Zach Miller tallied 16 points for Glenbard East. Paul Sanders had 14 points and Lee Skinner 10 points.
"We played better tonight," said Glenbard North coach Joe Larson. "Our offensive execution needs to be better, and some of the nuances of the game need to improve, but I think our effort was good."