Glenbard South tries to start new streak

Glenbard South’s boys basketball team finally gained some separation from Illiana Christian in the third quarter.

With Friday’s 62-47 win in Glen Ellyn, the Raiders also hope they’ve gained some separation from an inconsistent regular season.

Glenbard South (11-15, 7-5) broke a four-game losing streak and forged a three-way share of second place in the Metro Suburban Conference. Now it’s off to the Class 3A Riverside-Brookfield sectional where the No. 12 Raiders will play No. 6 North Lawndale in Tuesday’s Wheaton Academy regional semifinals.

Glenbard South, which received a forfeit win over Hancock in the regional quarterfinals, will soon find out if Friday’s stellar effort carries over.

“We’ve been on a little skid,” said Raiders guard Joe Harks, who was honored before the game with fellow seniors Dan Marshall, Shawn Greening and Dennis Kissane. “I think this will give us a lot of momentum for Tuesday. This will give us the confidence that we need.”

Glenbard South led for much of the first half until Joel Ooms got a steal and basket to put Illiana Christian (11-14, 4-8) ahead 21-20 with a minute left in the second quarter.

The Raiders set the tone for the second half, however, when Dominique Cisneros-Watson came off the bench and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds of the period.

After Harks opened the second half with a three-point play to make it a 29-21 lead, the Raiders were quickly on their way to boosting the advantage above double digits.

“Our intensity picked up in the second half,” Marshall said. “We were closing out on shooters, we hit some big shots, made our free throws. All of that really helped.”

Austin Vander Sluis scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to help rally the Vikings to within 47-40, but Glenbard South quickly applied the defensive clamps.

The Raiders buried Illiana Christian with a 15-0 run as Harks scored 6 points and Wes Sanders snagged a steal and converted it into a layup. The Vikings scored the last 7 points to account for the final.

Harks scored a game-high 17 points for the Raiders while Matt Jeske added 10 points off the bench. Dusko Despot tallied 9 points and Cisneros-Watson had 8 points.

“It always feels good to go into the playoffs with a little momentum coming off of a win,” said Raiders coach Wade Hardtke. “We’ll see what we can do Tuesday night.”