Boys basketball: Walton, Glenbard East slams Glenbard South

Early in the first quarter Friday night in Lombard, Glenbard East’s Sam Walton soared to the hoop.

With his sights set on a backboard-shaking jam, however, Walton missed the throwdown.

Later in the opening frame, with the Rams holding a slight 13-9 lead over visiting Glenbard South, senior guard Danny Snyder found Walton in transition.

This time, the 6-foot-6 senior nearly blew the roof off of a jam-packed gym, slamming home a monstrous flush.

The ensuing momentum, and avalanche of noise from an ecstatic Rams student section, never faded for East (23-3, 10-1), who cruised to a 72-43 Upstate Eight Conference victory over South (18-8, 6-4).

With the victory, East clinched a 3-0 season sweep of their rival.

“It’s so fun,” Walton said. “I’ve been waiting to (dunk vs.) South.”

A perfectly executed half-court set opened the contest for East, with Keenan House finding a slicing Walton for an easy two.

Walton stuffed the stat sheet for the Rams, finishing with 14 points, 7 rebounds, a steal and 4 crushing blocks.

Immediately following the game’s initial score, East forced a Raiders turnover, one of many caused by suffocating pressure from the home team.

Despite rally efforts from the visitors, a relentless second quarter saw the Rams’ lead balloon to 18 at the break.

Following East’s first loss in over a month Tuesday night at Riverside-Brookfield, coach Eric Kelly praised his team’s resilience.

“We said the sign of a good team is not how you handle the winning, but how you handle the losing,” Kelly said. “So, we came out, put an emphasis on the defensive end (and) getting the ball inside. Obviously, we had a great crowd and a great turnout.”

Double-digit scoring efforts from House (13 points), senior guard Michael Nee (11 points), forward Jacob Marynowski (14 points), alongside Walton’s 14 paved the way for East. Marynowski added 7 boards to his total.

For the Raiders, Amir Jackson, Will Sieck and Sean Reese scored 11, 9 and 8 points, respectively.

“Those guys are really good,” said Glenbard South coach Jason Mead. “It’s not fun to have to play them three times a year.”

As time wound down in the fourth, Rams junior Colton Schmidt converted a pair of layups, much to the delight of a dedicated student section for Glenbard East, which brought juice from the bleachers for all 32 minutes.

Each squad will get Ridgewood next. South hosts the Rebels on Wednesday night, while East concludes their regular season in Norridge Friday evening.