Glenbard East gets right back into flow

The nine days off between Glenbard East's last game and Friday night was too much time away for Rams senior Jon Hill.

Judging by the crowd's reaction to Hill's two dunks off turnovers in the first quarter of Glenbard East's 84-60 home win over Glenbard North Friday, he wasn't the only one in Lombard ready for hoops again.

"I think we were excited to come out there after a hard week of practice," Hill said. "We were just so ready. You could see it in our eyes."

Hill led all scorers with 23 points.

"I think the dunks were real a big momentum builder for the team and our crowd," Hill said.

The Rams (12-1, 4-0) came out in the first quarter as fired up as a bull left in its pen too long. Immediately point guard Zach Miller fed teammates slashing to the baskets for assists. He then added a crossover dribble-drive and ended it with a swish to make it 13-3.

"What gets us going the most is the backdoor passes," Miller said. "(Hill) gave us some good dunks early and that really gave us energy."

Glenbard East senior Kevin Priebe and junior Pat Walsh knocked in back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the lead to a commanding 21-5.

Miller's hustle came up huge in the final play of the first quarter. After missing a 3-pointer, he chased down his own rebound and tear-dropped in the putback shot.

The Rams led 23-8 heading into the second quarter, but Panthers senior Matt Pemberton and junior Josh Fleming began to establish good scoring chances under the basket to help Glenbard North claw back.

The Panthers (6-6,2-2) began to break Glenbard East's zone defense with relative ease. With three minutes left in the first half, Glenbard North gained to within 9 points.

"We gathered ourselves and did some good things," said Panthers coach Joe Larson. "We made them pay for the (full-court press defense), but we turned it over way too much."

Miller hit a crucial 3-pointer in the final seconds of the first half, and the Rams led 42-26 at halftime.

"The way our team is built we don't need anyone to come out and score 30," Miller said. "We all touch the ball."

Glenbard East came out of the break as charged up as it was in the game's opening minutes. Hill's superior court-vision was on display as he found teammate Tyree York for a layup in traffic early in the third period.

After a jumper by Miller in traffic and more low-post scoring by Hill, the Rams offense generated 14 points in less than three minutes.

"We feel the first four minutes of the third quarter are crucial, and our kids responded well," said Glenbard East coach Scott Miller.