Glenbard East turns back Naperville North
Crowned DuPage Valley Conference champions a week ago, Glenbard East's boys basketball team should be cruising into the playoffs.
No such luck.
For the second straight game the Rams were pushed to the wire, but for the second straight time they pulled out the victory.
With Friday's 73-69 squeaker over Naperville North in Lombard, Glenbard East (22-1, 12-0) notched its 16th straight win and inched closer toward an unbeaten run through the DVC.
Getting that 12th conference win wasn't easy. The Rams led by as many as 17 points in the first half, only to see the Huskies (18-6, 7-5) crawl within 2 points in the waning seconds.
Glenbard East ultimately sealed the win with 7-of-8 free-throw shooting in the final 38 seconds.
"I think we got too comfortable with out lead," said Rams forward Lee Skinner, one of seven players honored for Senior Night. "Coming down to the wire we weren't executing, and that's a hurdle we've got to get over from the last couple of weeks."
Aside from their lone loss to Curie, last week's 60-59 win over Glenbard North and Friday's win over Naperville North are the only games the Rams haven't won by at least 10 points.
Naperville North trailed 32-15 after the Rams' Shawn Havenga nailed a 3-pointer early in the second quarter, but a 14-6 run to close the half brought the margin to single digits.
Things really got interesting in the final minute of the game when the Huskies' Joe McNicholas scored and then Matt LaCosse got a steal and basket to put the score at 68-65.
"It was a tale of two halves," said Rams coach Scott Miller. "I was real disappointed with the intensity we had from about the middle of the third quarter on."
The Huskies' Matt Bushman hit 2 free throws and scored on a layup to twice make it a 2-point game, but Johnny Hill and Devin Parks both responded with a pair of free throws for the Rams.
"We just kept pushing and kept giving effort," said McNicholas, who led the Huskies with 17 points. "We were down big but we never gave up."
The Rams were balanced as always, with Hill scoring 19 points, Zach Miller tallying 14 points and 9 assists, and Skinner scoring 11 points.
LaCosse scored 15 points for the Huskies and Jovonn Griffin added 11 points.
"I'm extremely proud of our boys," said Naperville North coach Jeff Powers. "They could have folded and it'd been a 25-point loss, and here it's a 2-point game and they have to hit free throws to beat us."