10 years later, it's still a special win for Glenbard North
Retired Glenbard North boys basketball coach Bob Miller hadn't watched the game tape in a handful of years, but a blast of nostalgia and a DVD player quickly brought him back to March 2002.
Thankfully, some things never change.
“Guess what,” Miller said. “We won again.”
Some things also never get old, not even after 10 years.
This season marks the 10th anniversary of Glenbard North's stunning upset victory over West Aurora in the Class AA supersectional. The Panthers' unexpected trip to Peoria and the state quarterfinals represented the first appearance by a DuPage Valley Conference team other than West Aurora since Wheaton Central's fourth-place finish in 1981.
In fact Glenbard North remains one of only four DVC teams to qualify for the state's Elite Eight.
Virtually no one beyond the walls of the Carol Stream school thought it would happen to that Panthers team. Especially with perennial giant West Aurora standing in the way.
“They had a team with three Division I players,” Miller said. “We had a team with one Division III player.”
The magical season 10 years ago was forged behind a core rotation of seven senior players with only one returning starter from the year before in off-guard Greg Klos. As juniors who saw sparse collective court time they finished 10-16.
What the Panthers lacked in experience, they made up for with prime athletic ability. Joel Pelland, Todd Evans and Klos played in a state title football game in 2000, and Pelland pitched for a sectional finalist baseball team in the spring of 2002.
“The thing about our team is that I think we hated losing, maybe more than we wanted to win,” Pelland said. “We were that competitive. We literally had no selfish players, and I think that's why we were so successful.”
The 2001-2002 season finished with 23 wins, 8 losses, a third-place finish in the DVC and an unforgettable March night in DeKalb at the Northern Illinois University supersectional.
West Aurora — behind a trio of young superstars in junior Dameon Mason and sophomores Shaun Pruitt and Jaeh Thomas — stormed out of the sectional with a 27-3 record. The Blackhawks, two years removed from a state title and two years before a third-place finish, were in the midst of a five-year span when they lost only 14 times in 157 games.
Mason wound up at Marquette and Pruitt at Illinois while Thomas graduated as a four-year starting point guard. The sky was the limit for the Blackhawks, who swept the Panthers in two DVC games by a combined margin of 50 points.
The third matchup in the playoffs loomed as a West Aurora afterthought. When scouting potential quarterfinal opponent Westinghouse in the Chicago Public League final, several Panthers overheard television commentators already looking forward to a Westinghouse-West Aurora game in Peoria.
“I think that motivated us, the fact that no one gave us a chance,” Pelland said. “Even after those two losses, everyone on our team knew they weren't 20 points better than us. If we played our best, we knew we could compete with any team in the state.”
After upsetting top-seeded Wheaton North in the Larkin sectional final, third-seeded Glenbard North got what was expected — a three-match against daunting West Aurora.
The supersectional began ominously with a Blackhawks bucket, a steal and another bucket. Six-foot-nine Pruitt scored 12 quick points on six touches in the post.
Still, the Panthers hung in there after Klos, who went on to play at Lake Forest College, broke the ice with a 17-foot jumper.
“I remember thinking to myself, ‘We're playing with these guys,'” Miller said. “And as a coach in a game like that, all you want is a chance to win at the end.”
Panthers point guard Ray Gamaro, who became a starter at midseason, survived the Blackhawks' press and actually began to dominate. Gamaro, who played in only two games as a junior, finished with 17 points.
Combined with Klos, who knocked down seven 3-pointers while scoring 29 points, the tandem shot 15 of 19 from the field.
Even with everything seeming to go their way, the Panthers trailed by 3 points entering the fourth quarter. A quick burst of points to start the fourth quarter, capped by a Klos 3-pointer, finally put Glenbard North ahead.
The Panthers never trailed again. In fact toward the end of the game the lead steadily grew.
The impossible became inevitable.
Those inside packed Chick Evans Field House, at least two-thirds filled by stunned West Aurora fans, witnessed something truly amazing: a 68-65 Glenbard North victory.
“It was the biggest crowd any of us had ever played in front of, the support was incredible,” Pelland said. “You know when you see the guys on TV celebrating the World Series and popping champagne? It was like that without the champagne.”
Within minutes Miller was receiving voice-mail messages from congratulating friends in attendance. That night it seemed like everyone felt Panthers pride.
“I was getting a lot of similar messages,” Miller said. “They said it was the best five bucks they ever spent.”
The rest of the week passed as a whirlwind. A quick Wednesday practice, a Thursday trip to Peoria and a 71-48 Friday loss to a Westinghouse squad that went on to win the state title.
When looking back at the 2002 Panthers, however, the overwhelming memory remains the win over West Aurora and not the loss to Westinghouse.
At halftime of last Friday's scheduled game against Naperville North, Glenbard North planned to honor the 2002 team that also included key senior contributors Steve Fifarek, Jeff Masangcay and Mike Paradowski. The ceremony was postponed along with the game because of the inclement weather.
Glenbard North hopes to reschedule the celebration, although it's tough to get the group together. Some remain local: Pelland's a District 87 teacher and Glenbard East's baseball coach while Klos is a Wheaton police officer.
The former players and coaches don't see each other often, but there's no doubt the bond remains. That season — that game — won't be forgotten.
It remains a beacon of hope for every basketball underdog in the western suburbs.
“The guys who put the uniforms on knew they could win that game, even more than the guys with the shirts and ties,” Miller said. “It was a special group.”
kschmit@dailyherald.com