Raiders' best not enough against North Lawndale
Summing up its entire boys basketball season, Glenbard South did more than most.
Try as they might, though, it still wasn't enough for the Raiders to keep up with state heavyweight North Lawndale.
Glenbard South ended its best season in nearly a decade with Tuesday's 74-54 loss to the powerful Phoenix in the Class 3A Riverside-Brookfield sectional semifinals.
Despite playing less-than-ideal basketball in a first half that featured 33 percent shooting and 14 turnovers, No. 6 Glenbard South (20-8) stayed within 6 points after one quarter and at the half.
Top-seeded North Lawndale (27-5), the Public League champion and last year's Class 2A state title winner, started the game 8-0 and 21-10, but the Raiders' Jordan Harks scored the final basket of the first half to make it 27-21.
Then came the third quarter. A 21-7 run burst the margin to 48-28, and the Raiders never again came closer than 19 points away.
"We came out wanting it really bad," said Harks, who capped a stellar senior year by scoring a game-high 21 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. "We knew we had nothing to lose. We went as hard as we could, as long as we could.
"We put everything into the first half and I guess we were a little tired in the second half, but I mean, we hung with them for two and a half quarters," he said. "No one expected that. I'm pretty proud of how we played tonight even though we lost."
North Lawndale overcame tremendous distractions coming into the game. Senior Jonathan Mills, committed to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, was ruled ineligible for regional play due to allegations he cheated on a test.
Tuesday afternoon Mills, who filed a lawsuit against the school, was granted a temporary restraining order by a circuit court judge that allowed him to play against the Raiders. He came off the bench and scored a team-high 14 points, 9 coming during the third-quarter run.
"I was fired up," he said. "I missed two regional games, so I had to come out with all I had. I was very happy. I gave it all I had and wore myself out."
Senior Sam Mitchell came off the bench to score 12 points for the Raiders. Twelve players scored for North Lawndale, which in Friday's sectional final faces tonight's winner between St. Joseph and Marshall. John Taylor scored 13 points for the Phoenix.
"Tale of two halves," said Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke. "We took some good punches there in the first half. I thought they had one more twist in the wrench, and we saw it in the second half."
The Raiders came away disappointed with the loss but still reflected proudly on the season as it drew to an end.
Glenbard South won its first conference title since 2000 by claiming a share of the Western Sun crown. Friday's win over Riverside-Brookfield also gave the program its first regional title since 2004.
Ten seniors - a list that included the entire starting unit of Harks, Ralondo Shumate, Louis Erkins, Kevin Marshall and Matt Kuzniar - led the way.
"Anytime you say goodbye to seniors it's always tough," Hardtke said. "In the beginning of the season, we set out with some lofty goals, and for the most part we accomplished them."
BOX SCORE
CLASS 3A RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD SECTIONAL SEMIFINALS
North Lawndale 74, GLENBARD SOUTH 54
Glenbard South - Shumate 1 0-0 3, Kuzniar 0 0-0 0, Harks 8 5-5 21, Erkins 2 4-7 8, Marshall 2 0-0 4, Wanless 0 4-6 4, Mitchell 4 3-5 12, Childs 0 0-0 0, Rovansek 0 0-0 0, Bolton 0 0-0 0, Harris 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 0-0 0, Ledwidge 0 0-0 0, Sandquist 0 0-0 0, Tuttle 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 16-23 54.
North Lawndale - Dangerfield 0 0-0 0, J. Taylor 4 5-6 13, Z. Jones 1 0-0 3, Bunch 1 0-0 2, Winfield 6 0-0 12, Mills 4 6-9 14, Johnson 2 0-0 4, Mayfield 3 0-0 6, S. Thorpe 1 0-0 2, Austin 3 0-0 6, G. Taylor 1 0-0 3, J. Jones 3 1-1 7, B. Thorpe 0 0-0 0, Moss 0 0-0 0, Banks 1 0-0 2. Totals 30 12-16 74.
Glenbard South 8 13 12 20 -54
North Lawndale 14 13 29 18 -74
3-point baskets: GS: Shumate, Mitchell; NL: Z. Jones, G. Taylor.
Fouled out: None.