Glenbard South peaking in time for playoffs

Up or down, boys basketball teams are pointing in different directions as next week's playoffs approach.

There's no doubt which way Glenbard South is heading.

The Raiders notched their seventh straight win with Friday's 44-32 Western Sun Conference win over Yorkville in Glen Ellyn, breaking a string of five wins in six games by the Foxes.

"We've been on a roll, and they've been on a roll," said Raiders coach Wade Hardtke. "We told the guys somebody's roll was going to stop tonight, so we wanted to make sure we got off to a good start."

Mission accomplished on that front.

Glenbard South (15-10, 9-5) built a massive 23-4 lead midway through the second quarter and never looked back. Yorkville (10-16, 4-10) closed the game with an 11-2 run to slice into what had been a 42-21 Raiders lead.

Trace Wanless, one of the many players honored for Senior Night, scored all 14 of his points in the first half, including 10 in the second quarter as the Raiders poured on the points. He made 6 of 7 first-half shots, including a pair of 3-pointers.

"It was just the flow of the offense," Wanless said. "We did a nice job passing the ball and running the rotations for the offense. When you hit open players who hit open shots, you're in for a good first half."

The Raiders' defense proved just as pivotal in the opening 16 minutes. Forcing the Foxes into 25 percent shooting was only part of the focus.

Glenbard South also forced 10 first-half turnovers and locked Yorkville into a pair of extended scoring droughts. The Foxes were held scoreless for the first 4 minutes, 47 seconds of the game and then endured a 5:44 drought that began with two minutes left in the first quarter.

The Raiders took advantage with a 16-0 run to account for the 23-4 lead.

"We wanted to get off to a good start, and our defense just led to our offense," said Raiders senior guard Mike Rovansek, who scored 10 points. "We mostly played man-to-man, just tried to put a little pressure on them. And then we sprinkled in a little 1-3-1 and thought that could throw them off a little bit."

Glenbard South now turns its focus to playing in the Class 3A Riverside-Brookfield sectional, which should be a handful. The ninth seed in the Marshall regional, the Raiders face No. 8 Raby on Tuesday before a possible regional final matchup against the top-seeded host Commandos.

That seven-game winning streak will be put to the test right off the bat.

"Our whole team's feeling pretty good right now, so we'll see what happens," Wanless said. "We're really starting to play together as a team."