Glenbard North keeps rolling against South Elgin
Glenbard North's boys basketball team played perhaps its best game of the season last Friday.
The Panthers topped it on Tuesday.
Keeping a mini-roll going, Glenbard North led wire-to-wire in a 59-46 nonconference victory over South Elgin in Carol Stream.
Combined with last week's impressive DuPage Valley Conference win over Naperville Central, the Panthers (9-8) continue to make a push as the sectional seeding process approaches.
"It seems like everyone's just stepping up," said Panthers senior forward Reggie Davis, who scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. "Everyone's making big shots and playing good defense, and that's what we need."
Glenbard North blitzed the Storm (13-6) by scoring the game's first 7 points. The Panthers pushed the advantage to double digits in the first half, but South Elgin's 7-0 burst to start the third quarter, capped by freshman Jake Maestranzi's 3-pointer, narrowed the gap to 29-27.
Despite staying close through the third quarter, the Storm never came any closer.
With Glenbard North sandwiched between key Upstate Eight Conference games against East Aurora and Neuqua Valley - Friday's opponent in Naperville - Storm coach Chaz Taft didn't like his team's effort.
"We didn't come ready to play tonight," Taft said. "They were the men and we were the boys. It's a game we need to wake up from and get ready for Neuqua Valley on Friday. If we come out with the same effort that we did here, that's a 40-point loss to Neuqua Valley."
South Elgin buried itself with 4-of-14 first-quarter shooting from the field. While Glenbard North extended its lead in the fourth quarter behind Davis' strong effort, the Storm again struggled with 3-of-14 shooting.
Tommy Childs scored 16 points to lead South Elgin. Four players hit double-figure scoring for Glenbard North, including Anthony Keener's 12 points off the bench. James Fleming scored 11 points and Mike Carev tallied 10 points.
Glenbard North seeks its fourth straight win in Friday's DVC home game against Naperville North.
"The guys are playing real hard," said Panthers coach Joe Larson. "The main thing now is we have to stay consistent."