WW South beats Glenbard West in OT
Wheaton Warrenville South point guard Reilly O'Toole knew what was waiting for him if he turned his off-the-ball curl into an immediate layup attempt.
O'Toole hesitated on the baseline dribble, causing Glenbard West center Pat Mazza, who had blocked O'Toole twice in the fourth quarter, to slide back toward his man. The Tigers senior finally found room to get an easy basket, kickstarting a 10-point overtime period with the reverse layup as WW South picked up a 46-36 nonconference win Tuesday night.
"I got my shot blocked quite a bit and had to switch something up," O'Toole said. "I had to make an adjustment."
O'Toole was the lone Tigers player in double figures with 16 points as the Hilltoppers' inside presence frustrated their opponent into three weak quarters between the opening period and overtime.
"We need to get better offensively," Tigers coach Mike Healy said. "And they know that. We all need to be more accountable on what we're working on."
The teams were tied at 14 after the first quarter with O'Toole bullying his way into the paint for close shots. At the same time Glenbard West (1-7) was hitting jumpers, knocking down two 3-pointers before turning to the low post in the second quarter as the Hilltoppers opened a 5-point halftime lead.
Mazza was strong through three quarters, tallying 8 points on an array of post moves while grabbing 12 rebounds and amassing 5 blocks for the game. But when the game was theirs for the taking, the Hilltoppers were without a clutch scorer like O'Toole.
"Their pressure took us out of what we wanted to do and a lot of that is just strength," Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder said. "They were stronger than us and it showed down the stretch. ... We needed to get (Mazza) the ball more. That was part of the problem, the post touches. We weren't able to get him the ball."
WW South (4-3) is just happy to walk out of its home gym a winner as its recently added state champion football players find their legs and the team uses the nonconference games to work on weaknesses in its game.
"Glenbard West did things that we needed to get better at," Healy said. "This isn't surprising to us that we're struggling a little bit offensively. They played straight man, which is what we need right now. They didn't jump into a zone, switch screens. ... We know we need to get better if we're going to accomplish the things we want to."