Rolling Meadows stays on a roll
On Saturday night, how Rolling Meadows started mattered most as it finished with an upset win over Mid-Suburban East leader Hersey.
On Tuesday night, the Mustangs overcame a slow start with a big finish for a 70-57 nonconference boys basketball victory over visiting Glenbard South.
Junior guard Brian Nelms scored a career-high 26 points and 6-foot-6 senior Paul Volkman had 22 points as the Mustangs (9-9) won their fourth straight game to get back to .500 for the first time since they were 3-3 on Dec. 4.
"We came out real sluggish in the first quarter and I was worried about it after Saturday," Meadows coach Kevin Katovich said of scoring the first 17 points in a 75-71 win over Hersey. "In the second half we played like we've been playing lately. We ran our offense and we played pretty good defense."
Tyler Gaedele and Mike Olson each scored 8 points and hit two 3-pointers for the Mustangs. Katovich said 6-7 senior Scott Shewmon played a pivotal role as they turned a 33-31 halftime deficit into a 47-46 lead after three.
"Shewmon really sparked us in the third quarter," Katovich said. "He got a couple of offensive rebounds and kickouts for shots and did a nice job on their big kid (6-6 Dusko Despot)."
Despot finished with 18 points and 6-4 Matt Jeske had 12 points for Glenbard South (6-10).
Glenbrook South 54, Wheeling 50: A 3-pointer by Corey McMahon with about 30 seconds left broke a tie and sent Wheeling (4-14) to its ninth straight loss in the nonconference game at the Titan Dome in Glenview.
Wheeling had used runs of 6-0 to lead 25-23 in the third quarter and 9-0 to go ahead 42-40 in the fourth quarter. Glenbrook South (8-11) led 50-47 but a 3-point play by Tyler Shapiro (15 points) with 1½ minutes left tied the game.
Ricky Schwind led Wheeling with 18 points and hit three 3s and Nick Boyd added 8 points.
"Our effort tonight was good," said Wheeling coach John Clancy. "The kids continue to compete and they came out with a lot of energy.
"It was the best we've played in a long time and that's a positive sign."
A turnover with 14 seconds left prevented Wheeling from getting a potential game-tying shot. Sophomore Justin Busiel had 19 points and Jack Ryan added 11 points for the Titans, who had lost five in a row since winning the consolation championship of the Elgin Holiday Tournament.