Harvey leads Glenbard East to OT win
Glenbard East claimed its fourth victory in the five games since junior Tahron Harvey moved to point guard, but Wheaton Warrenville South made the Rams earn No. 4 in overtime Saturday night.
The Rams held the Tigers scoreless in the extra period to take a 52-49 win in Wheaton.
"I thought the first half we came out with a lot of energy, shot the ball better (than in Friday's win)," Rams coach Scott Miller said. "Against that zone you're going to have to shoot the ball well. We didn't quite shoot it as well in the second half, but we made enough plays to get us in position to win. Good game to prepare us for the state tournament. A lot of pressure."
Harvey, a former forward, played a big role in the victory, scoring 18 points, including all 10 of the Rams' fourth-quarter points.
"He's definitely been a key for us since we made that switch," Miller said. "He's taken control of the team and gotten us into our offenses. As the games have gone on he's gotten better in all the games he's played at the point. It's almost like he's figuring it out as the game goes on a little bit. He had a couple of big rebounds too at the end."
The Tigers (10-15, 6-7 DuPage Valley Conference) took the Senior Night loss hard.
"Disappointed I couldn't do more for our seniors," WW South coach Bob Szorc said. "The kids played their hearts out tonight, battled back. Just needed the ball to bounce our way one or two more times."
The Rams (13-11, 7-6) led by as many as 9 points, but the Tigers fought back and took their only lead of the game 40-39 on a Tim Zyburt basket at the end of the third quarter. Glenbard East built a 5-point lead again on a Harvey 3 with 4:39 to play, but the Tigers held the Rams scoreless the rest of the quarter, and a Michael Kramer 3-pointer with 23 seconds left sent the game to overtime tied at 49.
"It's just who we are," Szorc said. "We keep fighting no matter what the score. I'm really, really proud of our guys for not packing it in after (Friday) night's double-overtime game."
Dante Bailey's basket with 1:40 to play in the overtime gave the Rams the lead again, and Harvey added a free throw.
"Overtime's about who scores first, and they did a good job of setting the tone early," Szorc said. "It's a great learning lesson for us, because we're going to be in this situation again. And we're more than capable of responding the right way."
Bailey added 15 points and 6 rebounds for Glenbard East. Dan Roadman led WW South with 20 points, hitting five 3-pointes. Zyburt had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.