No. 21 Glenbard West reaches regional final
Nobody had to remind Glenbard West it's seeded 21st in the Class 4A East Aurora sectional. The Hilltoppers know.
And they don't care.
The Hilltoppers pulled their second consecutive upset of the postseason, defeating No. 6 Waubonsie Valley 63-62 at the Glenbard East regional on Wednesday night.
“We knew we could come in and play them,” Hilltoppers junior Michael Mache said. “One thing we talked about was when you look at records and teams, everyone is really tight. We might have been the 21st, but we knew we could play with anyone. We looked at our record, and our record could be much different than it is. But we're turning it on right now, and we knew we could play with them. We came out and got out to a strong start.”
Glenbard West (11-16) will meet host and third-seeded Glenbard East (23-3) in the regional final at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
“It's big,” Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder said of Wednesday's win. “It's big. Not a lot of wins last year, and these kids have never given up. They just keep working and practicing, and it's paying off.”
The Hilltoppers jumped out to a 9-4 lead early, but Waubonsie Valley rebounded with an 11-2 run to end the first quarter.
Glenbard West started hot again in the second quarter, scoring the first 12 points and taking a 34-22 lead into halftime.
“You'd like to think not as a coach,” Waubonsie's Steve Weemer said, when asked if his Warriors had a letdown against the No. 21 seed. “But you know how kids are. That's why they have tournaments. That's why the NCAA Tournament is a lot of fun. The IHSA Tournament is a lot of fun because things like that happen. Congratulations to them. How exciting is that to be a 21 seed and show other teams in future years that, hey, you can win as a 21 seed? They proved it. They've won two in a row. They're 2-0 in the second season.”
A pair of Jakobi Johnson free throws tied the game at 39 with 2:02 to play in the third quarter, and the game was tight the rest of the way.
“We let them get back into it early in the third quarter, but just like the other night, the kids didn't panic,” Hoder said of Monday's overtime win against No. 11 Oswego East. “They just kept plugging away and battling for rebounds and they just kept playing.”
Glenbard West took the lead for good on a pair of Matthew Mache free throws with 1:31 left in the fourth period, making the score 56-55. After 6-foot-6 Hilltoppers junior Pat Mazza blocked a Jared Brownridge lay-in attempt, Michael Mache finally put the game away with four seconds to play when he hit 2 of 2 free throws for a 63-62 lead.
“That's the only place I want to be,” said Michael Mache, who made 14 of 18 at the line in the game. “I don't want to be anywhere else.”
Johnson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final score.
Johnson led Waubonsie Valley with 24 points, and Brownridge, a sophomore, scored 17 on 6 of-22 shooting.
“My coaches told me to keep shooting, because that's what shooters do, and that's what I continued to do in the second half and also look for my teammates,” Brownridge said.
“A kid like that, you can't give him any room,” Hoder said, noting Brownridge's 68 3-pointers this season.
Michael Mache finished with 28 points and 6 rebounds for Glenbard West, and Matthew Mache added 12.