Glenbard East will look to Bailey next season

PEORIA -- In the postgame news conference following Glenbard East's 57-50 win over Normal Community in Saturday's Class 4A third-place game, Rams coach Scott Miller singled out junior Dante Bailey for his fine play.

Expect to see much more from the 6-foot-6 center next season. Bailey is the lone returning starter for the Rams (28-4), who capped their finest season by breaking the program record for wins and earning their first state trophy.

Among the graduation losses for Glenbard East will be Illinois State-bound Johnny Hill and Miller's son, Zach, who will play at Northern Illinois after a four-year varsity career at point guard.

"People ask me how we're going to be next year," Scott Miller said. "We've got some good young sophomores and juniors, but we've got to find a way to replace (Hill and Zach Miller). They're the heart and soul."

In addition to Bailey, who scored a team-high 16 points in the third-place game, the Rams return bench contributors Pat Walsh and 6-3 sophomore Marvin Grant-Clark among others.

Rough one:

It's a good thing Glenbard East doesn't have another game.

The third-place game ended up being a rough one for the Rams, who lost senior forward Kevin Priebe to a wrist injury and Steve Kinney to a knee injury. Zach Miller also took a shot to the eye, but he returned to the game after briefly going to the locker room.

"Sometimes that happens when you get real run down and tired," Scott Miller said. "It's a rough grind here, these three games in five days."

Zoned out:

With three starters 6-foot-6 and taller, Simeon coach Robert Smith decided to take advantage of his team's overall length. The Wolverines came out in a 2-3 zone defense in Friday's 56-53 semifinal win that forced the Rams to run their offense farther away from the basket.

The strategy worked early as Glenbard East missed 6 of its first seven 3-point attempts. Thirteen of the Rams' first 14 shots were from 3-point range.

"Their length, I think we kind of knew, but we really didn't know at the same time," Zach Miller said. "They brought their 2-3 out pretty high and they extended their wings up pretty high. Their arms are so long and they're so quick."

The problem for Simeon, though, is that Glenbard East started to get comfortable with the zone. The Rams shot nearly 50 percent from 3-point range after that initial drought. Thirty-one of their 43 field-goal attempts, and 12 of their 18 makes, were 3s.

Despite the perimeter charge that sparked Glenbard East's comeback, the Wolverines didn't switch from zone to man until the Rams tied the game at 36 on Johnny Hill's 3-pointer with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Glenbard East took two fourth-quarter leads but made no more 3-pointers until the final 20 seconds of the game.

"They made a couple 3s, and then they'd miss some, then they made some," Smith said. "And then when they were on a roll of constantly making them, we had to make an adjustment."

Sinking subs:

Simeon's 15-0 lead to start Friday's game resulted from the Wolverines' physically overwhelming starting unit led by 6-foot-7 Jabari Parker, one of the nation's top sophomores playing relentless on offense, defense and especially on the boards.

Simeon coach Robert Smith, as he did throughout the season, subbed in five new players hoping their fresh legs would further hound the Rams. It's a strategy that worked in the past for Simeon, but not this time.

Glenbard East gained some confidence with a few quick 3-pointers and eventually climbed back into contention.

"I thought that second unit was going to be able to come in and give us the same boost, but unfortunately they didn't do that," Smith said. "They went out and played some individual basketball and let them get some wide open shots, and let them get their confidence."

Fan farewell:

Glenbard East enjoyed perhaps the most raucous crowd section during Friday's semifinal action. The Rams' fans dominated an entire quarter section of Carver Arena.

"Our student section and fan section was incredible," Zach Miller said. "We had almost a fourth of this whole place. It was a great feeling out there."

Glenbard East's fans will be able to end the season on a high note when the school hosts a rally for the team at 12:30 p.m. Sunday in the Rams' main gymnasium.

Delay of game:

With no timeouts left and the waning seconds rapidly fading on Friday, Glenbard East tried to stop the clock with a delay of game warning following Bailey's 3-pointer that narrowed the gap to 53-51 with eight seconds left.

When the Rams couldn't tip the ball past the cushioned barriers at the base of the basketball standard, though, a Glenbard East player picked up the ball and tossed it over the first row of press seating on the baseline.

The Rams were whistled for a technical foul for deliberately putting the ball out of play despite a debate from Rams coach Scott Miller.

"If it's above five seconds you're supposed to get a warning," Miller said. "They said it was a deliberate delay of game, and that's why they made that call."

Rashawn McElrath made both ensuing free throws with 3.5 seconds left, and then Tywon Pinkney split a pair of free throws to put the lead at 56-51 with 1.4 seconds left.

"We told our guys that didn't affect the game," Miller said of the technical foul. "It was a desperate measure at that point, so we're not really going to hang our head on that."