Glenbard East rolls to victory
Two games into the DuPage Valley Conference season and no one’s found an answer for Glenbard East’s boys basketball team.
Sure, it’s early. But the way the Rams looked in Friday’s 72-47 win over Glenbard North in Carol Stream, it makes you wonder if anyone will find an answer.
“They just beat us up in every phase of the game,” said Glenbard North coach Joe Larson. “They’re playing well together, playing good defensively. They make you play fast, and we like to play that way too. But we can’t turn the ball over as much as we did.”
Glenbard East (5-1, 2-0) flooded the court with aggressiveness, athleticism and a relentless attitude on both sides of the ball. After leading 16-8 at the end of the first quarter, the Rams took advantage of 16 Glenbard North turnovers in the middle quarters to seize control.
Like last week’s 18-point home win over Naperville Central, Glenbard East put the game to rest in the third quarter behind senior point guard Tahron Harvey. He scored 13 of his 15 points in the third quarter as the Rams turned a 17-point halftime lead into a 49-21 advantage three minutes into the second half.
“I try to look for my teammates first, that’s the priority,” Harvey said. “It’s about the team.”
Junior Jaron Hall was one of the teammates thriving Friday. He nailed three 3-pointers in the first half on his way to a game-high 17 points. Marvin Grant-Clark scored 8 of his 11 points in the first half as Glenbard East followed 7-of-15 second-quarter shooting with 9-of-12 third-quarter shooting.
The defense fed the offense during a 27-13 third quarter that saw the Rams double up the Panthers (2-3, 1-1) 62-31 heading to the final period.
“It’s really the first four minutes of the second half where we really try to get it going,” Hall said.
Junior forward Chip Flanigan led Glenbard North, which faces West Aurora and Naperville Central in its next two DVC games, with 12 points.
“Last week we came out with a lot of intensity at home,” said Rams coach Scott Miller. “We challenged them all week to come out and bring that intensity on the road, and I thought we did that. It was a good solid win.”
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