Glenbard East's Hall scores 31 to beat West Chicago
DaRon Hall required some extra time to make his presence known on Tuesday night.
The Glenbard East senior point guard watched his team fall into an early 4-point deficit against winless West Chicago before putting his first stamp on the game.
Hall buried a 3-pointer and scored on a coast-to-coast layup following a steal to spark a turnaround, equaling his personal-high of 31 points to lead Glenbard East to a 64-52 win in Lombard.
"I saw during the first half my players weren't scoring a lot, so I just had to take over and that's what I did throughout the whole game," Hall said.
Hall was definitely the X-factor in the Upstate Eight Conference battle. Hall scored seven of the Rams' first 13 points for a 13-11 lead. He drilled a long 3-pointer and added a spin move in the lane for a basket in a 5-point sequence midway through the second quarter.
Hall, an unsigned recruit, said he worked on adding quality size and improving his speed during the off-season to prepare himself for a big final season. He scored 58 points in two wins last week.
Hall said the extra strength and speed has made a big difference in his game.
"I'm more stronger now and can take a lot more contact and it has really helped me," Hall said.
The Wildcats (0-8, 0-3) battled throughout the game, playing with high energy, especially on the defensive side. They made the Rams (5-2, 3-0) work for most of their points, mainly relying on Hall and Deon Cook for their scoring. Cook finished with 13 points.
Hall helped the Rams mount a third-quarter comeback by hitting a 3-pointer and two free throws for a 36-33 lead. The Wildcats closed the quarter with a mini-run to tie the game at 42-42 following a basket by Raed Haroon, who scored 11 points. The senior forward scored 5 early points in the fourth before the Rams pulled away. Christian Krahenbuhl led the Wildcats with 15 points and Ryan Schmidt added 11.
"I felt stronger today going to the rim and attacking," Haroon said. "We played with a lot of heart and it's all about defense. We know that."
The momentum of the game turned when West Chicago's scrappy point guard Jacob Lim suffered a cramp and left the game for a few possessions with just over four minutes left in regulation. The Wildcats missed a 3-pointer and committed two straight turnovers. At the other end Hall scored a basket, Jack Rivas added a steal and basket, Cook scored and Rivas made two free throws in a five-possession span that led to a 58-47 lead.
"We made a lot of little mistakes," West Chicago coach Bill Recchia said. "They put out a lot of heart on the floor. We were tied going into the fourth quarter. The final score did not indicate how close this game was. I'm proud of the effort. We will clean up the little things that happened in the fourth quarter."