Glenbard South again rallies to upset Burlington Central
The late Yogi Berra once said, "It's like déjà vu all over again."
Friday night's Class 3A regional basketball championship clash between top-seeded Burlington Central and 4th-seeded Glenbard South had an eerily familiar feel to it.
The only thing different was the site.
For the second consecutive year, Glenbard South (14-14) staged an amazing late comeback to stun the high-flying Rockets (26-4) - this time by a score of 63-53 in overtime in Aurora.
A year ago, the Raiders rallied from a 50-41 deficit with 3:10 remaining on their home floor to edge the top-seeded Rockets 60-57.
This time, the scene shifted to Marmion with another fantastic finish by the underdog Raiders.
Trailing 40-30 after 3 quarters, Glenbard South still found itself behind 42-36 with 5:31 remaining after Rockets junior Zach Schutta's turnaround jumper.
Junior guard Brandon Whiteside connected on his second 3-pointer of the period to pull the Raiders within 42-39 with 5:15 left.
After Whiteside's pull-up jumper a few moments later made it a 3-point game again at 44-41, Rockets senior Joey Ratzek (11 points) split a pair of free throws to make it 45-41 with 3:44 remaining.
Back-to-back baskets from seniors Peter Jeske (8 points, 7 rebounds) and Billy Powers (14 points) tied the game at 45-45 after regulation.
Sophomore guard Kevin Enright buried a 3-pointer on the opening possession of the 4-minute overtime to ignite a 13-0 surge and propel the Raiders to an improbable come-from-behind postseason victory.
"You've got to give the kids credit - they never gave up," said Raiders coach Wade Hardtke, whose team outscored Burlington Central 33-13 during the fourth quarter and overtime period. "These guys have been fighting all year long. We hit some big shots and we knocked down some free throws (11 of 16 in OT). That's a scary team (Burlington). They're freaky fast and can shoot the three. Even with hitting the first bucket in overtime, it was an uneasy feeling because you hope it doesn't wake them up. Fortunately we were able to keep the momentum and finish it out."
Whiteside, who made his last 4 field-goal attempts, scored 16 of his game-high 22 points over the final 12 minutes.
"I just didn't want to lose," said Whiteside, whose team will face Marengo in Wednesday's Genoa-Kingston sectional semifinals. "I did whatever I had to do to make sure my team got the 'W' today. They got in our heads in the first three quarters but we played great defense after that."
Senior center Charlie Bair added 10 and 13 points despite battling late foul trouble.
"Brandon played a great game - he was on fire tonight," Bair said of Whiteside. "And all of the seniors played well. We knew if this was going to be our last game, we would give it all we had."
Schutta paced the Rockets with 18 points while seniors Ta Vonte Harris and Emmanuel Wells added 9 and 8 points, respectively.
"We couldn't execute any half-court offense," said Rockets coach Brett Porto, who guided his team to another record-tying 26-win campaign.
"It's just a special group. Our three seniors - when they came in as freshmen and where the program was to where it is now - they're a big part of it. The last two years, to be 52-8, is pretty special."