Boys basketball: Chilton’s hustle sends Glenbard North past Wheaton North

Glenbard North 6-foot-1 junior forward Caeden Chilton says that his role on the Panthers team this year is clear cut.

“I see myself as the rebounder, the hustle guy,” said Chilton. “Just go out and get the rebounds.”

The junior did just that for Glenbard North Wednesday night against visiting Wheaton North. He finished with 9 points, and more importantly 11 boards as the Panthers improved to 13-3 overall and 7-1 in the DuKane conference with a 53-51 win over the visiting Falcons.

A tip-in at the buzzer by 6-6 junior Oturo Redento (team-high 13 points) handed the victory to Glenbard North. The triumph was their fifth consecutive win, and saw them remain at the top of the DuKane standings.

Chilton indicated that the sky is the limit for the Panthers this year.

“Who knows?,” said the junior when asked how good his team can be this season. “We just want to hold on to that number one spot.”

The victory didn’t come easy by any means for the home team. The Panthers built a big early lead, then had to hold off a furious fourth quarter rally by Wheaton North at Hudson Gymnasium.

Senior Henry Schlickman scored a game-high 15 points for the Falcons.

“They (Glenbard North) are obviously in first place in conference for a reason,” said Wheaton North coach David Eaton. “They’ve had some buzzer beaters as of late, and they got us tonight at the buzzer. So they executed down the stretch, and this game came down to the offensive boards.

“They got one more than us at the end, but I thought our kids did a good job. We got down 10-2 early but we battled back. We took the lead in the fourth, and when you take that lead you sort of want to hold it for a possession, and see if you can extend it and make them feel the pressure. But we couldn’t hold that lead long enough.”

Wheaton North (9-8, 2-5), after trailing the entire contest, took a 46-45 lead late in the final stanza after a 3-pointer by Schlickman.

Glenbard North battled back to grab a 51-49 advantage, but a layup from Schlickman with 10 seconds left tied the score at 51-51.

The Panthers rushed the ball downcourt, and with three ticks left on the clock, a 3-point attempt from George Schager hit the back of the rim and bounced high in the air.

Redento leaped high between two defenders, and tapped the ball back to the basket as the buzzer went off. It swished through the net to give Glenbard North a hard-earned win.

“I just went for the offensive rebound, that’s it,” said Reento of his heads-up effort. “Just had to go crash, go crash (the boards), and put it back in before time ran out.

“We just had to be patient tonight, kick the ball out, and get good shots.”

Lamari Carpenter scored 12 points for Glenbard North, while Schager and Matt Welch each matched teammate Chilton with 9.

Six-5 junior Ben Gillmar played a tough inside game for Wheaton North, scoring 14 points.

"I thought our kids battled and executed down the stretch," added Falcons coach Eaton. "I thought that all the way to the end, but we've got to finish our possessions and get it to overtime, then see what happens."