Glenbard East ends Saints' 5-game streak

Defensive-minded Glenbard East forced 23 turnovers and enjoyed a 29-16 edge during the middle two quarters on the way to a convincing 63-47 nonconference triumph at St. Charles East on Tuesday night.

Senior forward Paul Sanders and sophomore guard Jon Hill combined to score 35 points, with 25 of them coming in the second half to help lift the Rams (17-5) to their 10th victory in 12 games.

Leading 15-12 after one quarter, the Rams held the Saints (8-15) without a basket for the final 6:24 of the second period while building a 29-17 halftime advantage.

"In the first half we got a lot of deflections and got our hands on a lot of balls," said Rams coach Scott Miller. "And I thought we did a nice job on (Saints center Kevin) Senechalle. He had 9 points with about 41/2 minutes left. I thought that was definitely the key.

"I was real pleased with the defense."

Senechalle finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds but 12 of those points came during the final 31/2 minutes - after the Rams had already secured the outcome with a 21-point lead.

"We've been playing well and their defense took us 100 percent out of the flow," added Saints coach Brian Clodi. "We could not get in anything (offensively). We tried three or four different things but couldn't get in any flow. We talked about going backdoor, but we just couldn't do it."

A 3-pointer by Zach Scott narrowed the deficit to 34-26 midway through the third quarter before Glenbard East ended the period with a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 44-28.

Sanders, who led the Rams with 20 points, capped the third quarter with a two-hand jam before putting the exclamation point on the festivities with a pair of fourth-quarter dunks.

Hill tallied 11 of his 15 points in the second half while adding 3 steals.

"We really tried to do our best to play a lot of help-side defense," Hill said. "Offensively, the key was going inside and also kicking it out to the perimeter (players) so they could get good looks."

"I thought that was one of Jon's best games he's played in a little while," Miller said.

Glenbard East also received contributions from 5-foot-9 guards Jack Merrithey and Zach Miller.

"With Jack and Zach, it's like having two point guards out there," coach Miller said. "When teams try to pressure them, it really opens up things for our other guys."

Clodi was impressed with what he saw from the Rams.

"They're a perfect high school basketball team," he said. "They've got great height, great athleticism and great guard play."