Glenbard South perseveres to beat R-B
Glenbard South's 20th win of the season was three years in the making.
"Going through 5-22," Wade Hardtke said of his first year as Raiders coach, "I didn't know if we'd get there. The kids kept battling and working hard, and I couldn't be prouder of them tonight."
After the host Raiders won their coach's first regional championship for him with Friday night's 75-63 victory against Riverside-Brookfield, they pushed him to the front of the line to cut down the net.
"I don't know why they were all pushing me up there first, because I certainly wasn't ready," Hardtke said. "I wanted the seniors to go up there and take care of the first (net) and we'd come down to this end. It's something we've been talking about for quite a while, and it's just nice to get it done."
In the third quarter it looked like Riverside-Brookfield (24-3) would get it done. The Bulldogs turned a 5-point Raiders halftime lead into a 5-point lead of their own, their biggest of the night, by torching the nets at Glenbard South. Specifically, junior guard Sean McGonagill scored 16 points in the quarter by hitting four 3-pointers.
"We got a timeout going and told ourselves to calm down, take a deep breath," Raiders senior Louis Erkins said. "We came out and played hard defense against him and shut him down."
The Raiders tied the score at 39 going into the fourth, then took the lead for good with 5:32 to go on a Sam Mitchell basket. That started a 12-1 Raiders run, making the score 58-47 with 3:16 to go.
"We tried working the ball inside because we knew our strength was inside because we had the height advantage," Erkins said. "We tried to get the ball in to Jordan (Harks). That helped."
Harks, the Raiders' scoring leader all season, responded with 14 points in the fourth quarter. He finished with 29 points, but just as important were his 15 rebounds, which helped the Raiders limit R-B's shots on the defensive end and led to some putbacks on the offensive end.
"Glenbard South really brought their 'A' game tonight," Bulldogs coach Tom McCloskey said. "They played good in all phases of the game. They were outstanding at the free-throw line. Harks was a ton. They hurt us on the glass."
The Raiders made 15 of 19 fourth-quarter free throws to hold off R-B down the stretch.
"Coach has been getting on us about free throws," Erkins said. "He said free throws win championships. That sure happened tonight."
Erkins added 14 points and 7 rebounds, and senior guard Ralondo Shumate scored 13 points. The Raiders (20-7) advance to Tuesday's Class 3A Riverside-Brookfield sectional semifinals, where they will meet North Lawndale.
McGonagill finished with 27 points, but he scored just 4 in the fourth quarter.
"There were a couple of chances where I thought maybe we were going to fold or something," Hardtke said, "but they just dug in and kept battling and got it done tonight."