Glenbard South claims share of league championship
Nine years after its last conference championship, three years after a 5-22 season and three weeks after four losses in five games appeared to put its 2009 title dreams in jeopardy, the Glenbard South boys basketball team needed only to defeat last-place Yorkville on Friday night to secure at least a piece of the Western Sun Conference championship.
Mission accomplished, as the Raiders roared to a an early lead and were never truly threatened in a 64-37 victory that gave them an 11-3 Western Sun record and left them in a three-way tie atop the league standings with Geneva and DeKalb.
"This has definitely been a journey," said Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke. "It's a long way from the first year, three years ago, when we were 5-22. This was something we set out at the beginning of the year and said if we came together as a team good things would happen. As the season went on, we were building along the way and we got it done."
The Raiders (18-7 overall) left nothing in doubt as they blitzed the home-standing Foxes (2-24, 0-14) from the start, hitting their first 6 shots and forcing 7 turnovers in Yorkville's first eight possessions in taking a 13-3 lead.
Setting the tone was senior Ralondo Shumate, a self-described "pass-first point guard," who recorded 3 steals and 2 assists in the game's first three minutes, while also chipping in 5 points.
"We tried to harp on not being too relaxed when we were at practice last night because we had played them before," Shumate said. "We knew we had to just focus and play hard and we'd be all right."
The recipient of most of Shumate's generosity was senior forward Jordan Harks, who had 8 points in the opening quarter, highlighted by a one-handed dunk over two Foxes that came as a result of one of Shumate's steals and a slick underhanded feed. Harks finished the night with 22 points, while Shumate added 17.
The Foxes did close within 14-10 on Tavis Gibson's basket, but the Raiders removed any suspense from the contest by scoring the next 16 points to open a 30-10 lead with Harks and Mike Rovansek both contributing 6 points in the run.
"In the second quarter we just kind of fell apart," said Yorkville coach Jerry Farber. "Their inside game killed us; we had no answer for Harks. It was a case of their good defense, we played a little intimidated and we were one shot and done, which meant that if we didn't make it we were back on defense."
With 10 Raiders scoring in the game, the advantage grew to as much as 61-32 before Hardtle emptied his bench with four minutes to play.
"We knew we could do it with team chemistry and by playing hard, and we won the conference championship," Harks said.
The Raiders now begin preparations for the Class 3A Riverside-Brookfield sectional as the No. 6 seed, where they will open play in their own regional Tuesday night against either No. 11 Chicago North Grand or No. 22 Chicago Kennedy.