Glenbard East bonded through successful year
The great ones always leave us wanting more.
The sad, downcast stares and moist, puffy eyes on the faces of the Glenbard East Rams as they exited their last locker room indicated the obvious - at 27-2 the winningest campaign in Rams basketball history was through.
Benet's 68-54 victory will also bring to an end what even professional athletes say they miss more than the games. The camaraderie.
"Wins and everything is good, but this group of guys, we're just like a family," said Rams junior guard Johnny Hill, who returns next year along with starting point guard Zach Miller.
"We can do anything together," Hill said. "And that's the aspect that you're going to miss. We knew that it was going to be over sometime, but we wasn't ready."
Several suited up for the last time: senior starters Lee Skinner, Shawn Havenga and Jack Merrithey; reserves Devin Parks, Matt Lahey, Sean Little, Mandella Koudi.
"A lot of these guys have been together for three, four years just at East alone. The bond between everyone, it was closer than a family. We understood what we were accomplishing and how big it was in our school and our community," said Merrithey, who scored a team-high 15 points Friday, all on 3-pointers.
The gutty defensive stopper and shooting guard was a three-year varsity starter, same as forward Skinner.
"We enjoyed every minute of it," Merrithey said. "It was a blast. I wouldn't trade this for anything. I wouldn't want any different player on the team. It was a family. We won together, we lost together and it was a blast all year. All four years."
The Rams won 60 games the last three seasons. This year's 27 victories topped the 25 of 2006-07. Until Friday they hadn't lost since Curie beat them 65-64 on Dec. 12, a span of 21 straight wins.
"It was just a great run," coach Scott Miller said. "We had moments that we'll never forget."
Glenbard East swept the DuPage Valley Conference with a perfect 14-0 record. That's not easy to do, but it's easier when the conference player of the year - Zach Miller - ran an offense averaging 72 points a game.
"They're a really, really good team and we're very humbled by beating them," said Benet coach Gene Heidkamp, "because we thought that they were the best team that we had played all year going in."
The crush of the sectional final loss made a positive spin unconscionable for Glenbard East's players.
"Honestly, I'm not even thinking about the future right now," Hill said. Eventually he'll accept he and Zach Miller will be joined by players from this year's 22-2 sophomore group and supported by 20-4 freshmen, both DVC winners.
It's not a stretch to say this team might be right back where it was Friday night.
"I think we're still going to be a pretty solid team," Scott Miller said.
This one, he said, was the best he's coached.
"I told them, when you set your sights as high as we set them, in life you're maybe going to have some letdowns and disappointments," Miller said. "It certainly is a big disappointment for us, but I can't say enough about the character of our guys and just a joy to coach. It was a dream season for us, other than maybe an earlier ending than we wanted."