Cooley stands tall vs. BG

Glenbrook South 6-foot-10 center Jack Cooley was a bit more than Buffalo Grove could handle at the Elgin Tournament on Tuesday night.

Cooley scored 24 points, pulled down 14 rebounds and blocked 7 shots in the Titans' 64-52 quarterfinal win.

"They won the battle inside," said Bison coach Ryan O'Connor. "We made that run at them in the final quarter. But they bent but didn't break."

"We knew on defense we had to get after their shooters and then box out," said Cooley. "This was a good win. I know I am looked to as a scorer, but tonight the other players stepped up."

The Bison (9-2) trailed 49-29 with 2:37 left in the quarter following a 16-4 run by the Titans (7-4) over the first 5:23 of the third quarter.

Buffalo Grove went on a 17-6 run to pull to within 55-46 with 2:32 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Kevin Mulligan's (25 points). The Bison could get no closer.

"I think the key to the game," said Glenbrook South coach Scott Nemecek, "was that we matched up well using a 1-3-1 zone. We had to be aware of Mulligan and that was hard to do.

"We knew we would have to handle their press. We worked on it for about an hour in practice before we came to the game. I think Jack's presence inside was a key factor. He blocked shots and forced some misdirection on others."

The Titans led from the start as Ryan Hopkins (14 points) hit a 3-pointer to start the game. Glenbrook South led 24-14 at the end of the first quarter.

Trailing 31-20 with 5:04 left in the half, the Bison defense held the Titans to just 2 points. BG, though, could manage just 5 points of its own and trailed 33-25 at halftime.

"That was an important stretch," said O'Connor, "We had some good looks but not too much happened."

Junior Mike Cornely added 12 points for the Bison, who will play either Dundee-Crown or Hoffman Estates in the winner's consolation bracket at 5 p.m. Friday.

Max Salah added 12 points and Jack Ryan 10 for Glenbrook South.