Glenbard North snaps Glenbard East’s streak
Glenbard North’s boys basketball team took down three significant streaks Friday night.
Only one, however, did the Panthers truly take personally.
Glenbard North broke an 11-game losing streak to rival Glenbard East with a 59-55 DuPage Valley Conference road victory in Lombard.
The Panthers (3-2, 2-0) also snapped Glenbard East’s 29-game DVC winning streak and its 16-game home winning streak.
“We have a bunch of competitors on our team,” said Panthers senior forward Josh Fleming. “We just played tough defense, went after every rebound and we didn’t back down.”
Even though Glenbard North led for most of the second half, neither team strayed more than 5 points away from each other the entire game.
Glenbard East (3-2, 1-1) took a brief 53-52 lead with 3:36 left in the game on Tahron Harvey’s free throws, but the Panthers reclaimed a 54-53 advantage on Robin Paye’s bucket.
The key play of the game followed when Glenbard North’s Justin Jackson intercepted an errant inbounds pass and drove uncontested for a breakaway layup. That put the Panthers ahead 56-53 with 1:30 left.
After Glenbard East missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Dante Bailey grabbed an offensive rebound but had his shot blocked by Troy Jackson. Trevor Hackett made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 39.6 seconds to seal the win.
“You’ve got to give Glenbard North all the credit,” said Rams coach Scott Miller. “They outhustled us, they oufought us, they outexecuted us. They wanted it more than we did tonight.”
Glenbard East struggled mightily with its shooting. The Rams made only 30 percent of their shots, including 6-of-29 shooting in the middle quarters.
Each side showed tremendous balance, although Bailey finished with a game-high 22 points and Fleming led the Panthers with 13 points.
Ryan Krueger and Troy Jackson had 10 points apiece for the Panthers, while Chavares Flanigan had 8 and Justin Jackson 7 points. Marvin Grant-Clark scored 11 points for Glenbard East, with Pat Walsh chipping in 10.
The lead changed hands several times during the first half before Glenbard North claimed a 26-25 lead on Flanigan’s 3-pointer with 2:27 left in the second quarter. The Panthers maintained a lead until Evan Peterson’s 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter pushed Glenbard East ahead 50-49.
“We have a ton of respect for that team, and this is a big win for us going forward,” said Glenbard North coach Joe Larson. “I’m very proud of them.”