Glenbard East disappointed despite getting win

After an 18-point win two weeks ago against Neuqua Valley, the Glenbard East boys basketball team has raised its standards and expectations for the remainder of the 2010 season.

That's why, despite cruising to an 18-point halftime lead and an eventual 72-59 road victory over Glenbard North on Friday night, the Rams couldn't feel completely satisfied.

The Rams failed to put together four quarters of their best basketball and were outscored by Glenbard North 36-31 in the second half in Carol Stream.

"We just didn't come out and play good," Glenbard East junior point guard Zach Miller said. "Especially after beating Neuqua by almost 20, I think definitely now (the bar has been raised)."

The Rams (12-1, 4-0 DuPage Valley Conference) looked worthy of their status as the area's top-ranked team at the outset of the second quarter, blasting Glenbard North with a 16-2 run to stretch their lead to 33-16. The visitors led 41-23 at the half and forced the Panthers into 14 first-half turnovers.

"We got out in the passing lanes, we rebounded the ball extremely well at that time, and we got the fastbreak going," Glenbard East coach Scott Miller said. "We got the tempo of the game where we really wanted it at that point."

Glenbard North (6-6, 2-2) appeared to capitalize on the 10-minute halftime break, showing a renewed focus on crashing the glass and using its athleticism. The Panthers scored the half's first 7 points, and a Brandon Clark layup with 2:59 in the third quarter trimmed Glenbard East's lead to 9 points.

"We executed defensively a lot better. We made them work for shots, made them work for what they got, and we didn't turn the ball over," Panthers coach Joe Larson said of his team's second-half improvement. "We gave up 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, and you can't beat a good team doing that.

"Did we come out in the second half and give a lot of effort and come back and show a lot of heart? Yes, but we've got to do it for a whole game."

Clark's third-quarter layup pulled the Panthers as close as they could get in the second half. Anthony Keener's 3-pointer with 2:14 in the game cut the lead to 69-57, but it was too little too late.

"We just made a few mistakes offensively, and that led to transition points for them," Glenbard East's Shawn Havenga said.