Glenbard East throws scare into Simeon
PEORIA Getting the chance to play in the state semifinals felt like the icing on the cake for Glenbard East's boys basketball team.
Against one of the nation's top teams, the Rams almost got the cherry on top.
Glenbard East staged an incredible comeback against Simeon, but fell 56-53 to the defending state champion Wolverines in Friday's Class 4A semifinals at Carver Arena.
The Rams (27-4) will play for third place when they face Normal Community (27-7) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the consolation game. Regardless of the result, Glenbard East will bring the program's first state trophy back home to Lombard.
"I'm just extremely proud of the effort that we played with tonight," said Rams coach Scott Miller.
Who could blame him?
Simeon (29-2) ripped out to a 15-0 lead only four minutes into the game before Glenbard East finally settled in. The Rams wound up breaking a 4A state tournament record by knocking down 12 3-pointers during a steady rally.
Johnny Hill, who scored a game-high 22 points, capped an 11-0 run with a layup at the start of the fourth quarter to give Glenbard East its first lead at 38-36. Hill's three-point play put the Rams ahead 41-40 a couple minutes later, but Simeon seized control again when Rashawn McElrath scored 7 straight points to push the Wolverines to a 47-41 advantage with 1:28 left.
"I'm a senior on the team," said McElrath, who scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, including 7-of-7 free-throw shooting. "So I tried to build our momentum and be a leader on the floor."
Glenbard East knocked down a couple more 3-pointers to keep it close, but the Wolverines made 10 of 11 free throws in the final 1:28 to seal the win. An attempt at a delay-of-game warning was whistled for a technical foul on the Rams with 3.5 seconds left, and the ensuing free throws put the game out of reach.
"It was difficult early, I think that's why we got off to that slow start," said Rams senior guard Zach Miller. "Their arms are so long and they're so quick in that 2-3 zone, the looks weren't there and it kind of shocked us a little bit. We started forcing things, but then I thought we settled down and started attacking more."
The start of the game was Glenbard East's worst nightmare coming to fruition. Dunks by Darien Walker and Jabari Parker, and a 3-pointer by Parker helped the Wolverines burst to their 15-0 lead a lead heavily aided by Simeon's 6-1 rebounding edge during the blitz.
The Rams, meanwhile, had trouble just getting off a shot. They turned the ball over on four of their first six possessions and missed their first five shots before Kevin Priebe finally hit a 3-pointer with 2:47 left in the first quarter.
Priebe started a trend. Fifteen of the Rams' 21 first-half shots were 3s, and 5 of their 8 field goals were from beyond the arc.
Simeon stayed in its zone until late in the third quarter, and the Rams took advantage. A 7-0 run to close the first half narrowed the gap to 26-21. All 5 of the Rams' third-quarter field goals were 3-pointers, capped by Hill's late in the frame that made it 36-36 heading to the final quarter.
After committing 4 first-quarter turnovers, the Rams turned it over only four times the rest of the game.
"I take my hat off to them for not giving up, all the way till the buzzer went off," said Simeon coach Robert Smith. "But these guys up here, and the ones in the locker room, their desire to win is huge. We could have folded when they took the lead, but nobody got rattled."
Parker scored 16 points for Simeon and Walker tallied 12. Steve Taylor grabbed 9 boards in helping the Wolverines to a 31-19 rebounding advantage.
Priebe came off the bench to score 11 points for the Rams. His three 3-pointers matched the total for Hill and Dante Bailey.
Simeon will play Warren (31-3), a 55-43 semifinal winner, in pursuit of the program's fifth state title at 8:15 p.m. Saturday.
"It's nothing that we can change right now," Hill said of the loss that broke the Rams' 12-game winning streak. "Just try to get better and get a win tomorrow."