Huge comeback lifts Glenbard East over South Elgin
Never was the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat more vividly on display than it was Friday night at South Elgin.
Visiting Glenbard East shocked the Storm by rallying back from 23 points down in the second half to tie the game at the buzzer in regulation and then won it in overtime 75-73 in Upstate Eight Valley Division boys basketball action.
The Rams (5-2, 1-0) trailed 69-66 with 7.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter when senior guard Terrance Lakes took an inbound pass under his own basket, raced down the court into the frontcourt and then flipped the ball back to fellow senior guard Zach Walsh, who drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Lakes then scored a pair of baskets in OT including a running leaner in the lane with 22 seconds left to give the Rams the lead for good 75-73. The Storm had a chance to send it to a second overtime, but Damien Young missed an off-balance layup attempt at the buzzer.
Walsh's game tying shot was his fifth 3-pointer of the night. He finished with 17 points.
"That's a play me and my point guard Terrance work on all the time for just that situation," Walsh said. "So we knew exactly what we were going to do on that play. I'm just glad it worked as planned. It was a great come-from-behind win for us. We just kept playing hard. Shots weren't falling in the first half, but when they started to in the second half and we started getting closer we felt like we had a chance."
Lakes finished with a game-high 19 points.
"When Zack hit that shot it was like new life," Lakes said. "In overtime we just kept doing what we were doing and that was attacking the basket."
The Rams trailed 42-19 in the opening minute of the second half. They managed to trim that deficit to 50-35 by the end of the third quarter and then outscored the Storm 34-19 in the fourth quarter. Glenbard East hit 9-of-13 shots in the in that final period, including 6-of-8 from the 3-point arc. Carlos Meyers and Kenny Adams came off the bench to each hit clutch 3s down the stretch for the Rams.
"When we were able to get it down to 15 at the end of the third quarter it gave us a little hope," said Glenbard East coach Scott Miller. "It started with our defense. We were able to start making them rush a little bit and forced some turnovers. That kind of carried over to the end where we started to hit some shots. It was a big win for us to open conference play. We wanted to send a message that we can compete."
The loss snapped a 3 game winning streak for South Elgin. It wasn't as if South Elgin totally choked on the offensive end. The Storm hit 4-of 8 shots from the field in the fourth quarter and made 11-of 16 free throws. Point guard Matt Smith did foul out with 5:13 left in regulation and second half turnovers proofed costly for the Storm.
"You have to give credit to them," South Elgin coach Jim Cook said. "They just kept knocking down big shots and we couldn't stop them. We needed to do a better job of getting out on their shooters."
Justin Howard had 16 points to lead the Storm.