West Chicago falls short vs. Glenbard North

West Chicago has talent, and at times Friday night the Wildcats flashed that talent against visiting Glenbard North.

The Wildcats, still searching for their first DuPage Valley Conference win, turned a 10-point first-half deficit into just a 1-point deficit in the third quarter against a Panthers team contending for the conference title. West Chicago (4-14, 0-8) then had another nice charge in the fourth quarter to again make things interesting before eventually coming up on the short end of a 52-40 contest.

"This team has the talent," West Chicago coach Kevin Baldus said. "With us it's mental and we need to have confidence."

At times that confidence was there and the hosts threw some scares into Glenbard North, which improved to 9-6 overall and 6-1 in the DVC. But the Panthers had too much steadiness on offense with Josh Fleming leading the way with 23 points, and too much consistency on defense, blocking 5 shots and tipping Wildcats passes all night long.

"When they made some runs at us I thought we executed better (afterward) and we concentrated a little more," Glenbard North coach Joe Larson said. "We struggled offensively tonight, but if you play defense the way we want to play defense you're going to have the lead for most games."

With Fleming connecting on a pair of 3-pointers and tallying 10 quick points, the visitors took a 16-6 lead after one quarter on Friday. John Konchar then scored a trio of baskets in the second quarter as the Wildcats closed to within 22-16 at the break.

An 8-3 run to start second half got the Wildcats to within 25-24 following a pair of free throws by Justin Mundt, who shared team scoring honors with Konchar at 12 points a piece.

But Justin Jackson sparked a 13-2 Panthers' run with a put-back and West Chicago found itself down 38-28 after three quarters. Fleming had 6 points during the run and then tallied seven more in the fourth quarter to help hold off the Wildcats' upset bid.

"It's always tough to come here and get a win," Fleming said, noting that the Wildcats have plenty of fan support and "streaky scorers" on this year's roster. "It's a relief to leave here with a win."

Fleming had 7 rebounds and 3 blocked shots to go along with his 23 points, but Jackson provided a big hand with 11 points and Ryan Krueger added 6 points, 7 boards and 3 blocked shots.

Larson expects the Wildcats to make things difficult for their opponents the rest of the way.

"They're a tough team. There's no doubt about it," he said. "West Chicago is going to have the chance to beat a lot of teams."