Glenbard West can’t slow York’s Sullivan

If York’s Will Sullivan thought there was a chance he could come to Glenbard West on Friday night under the radar, he had another thing coming.

“During practice for this week, we had a player wear a yellow jersey and we told him he was Will Sullivan. We said that’s the kid that we need to stop with the game on the line,” Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder said.

The game was on the line at the end, but Sullivan was allowed free rein of the Hilltoppers’ court late in the contest. His 18 points in the fourth quarter sparked a 27-point Dukes explosion as York won the West Suburban Silver contest 60-56.

York (8-6, 2-2) managed just 33 points total in the first three quarters and looked lifeless trailing Glenbard West 19-10 after the first quarter.

“We started playing defense. That 19 points in the first quarter was not us,” Dukes coach Dominic Cannon said. “We had played outstanding defense the last four games in a row (before tonight). Offensively, we weren’t making our shots during the first three quarters.”

The Hilltoppers (5-9, 0-3) led 40-33 going into the final quarter, but the Dukes got going right away by heating up a 11-1 scoring run to take control of the game. Sullivan had 8 of those points.

“Coach emphasized to us before the fourth quarter that the first three quarters were in the past and it was a whole new ballgame,” Sullivan said. “My shots were not falling in the first half and I was just trying to distribute the ball. Later on (assistant coach Tom Kleinschmidt pulled me aside and told me just to relax.”

York would lead most of the final quarter, but the Hilltoppers stayed in range until the very end. Egan Montgomery’s 3-point basket with 37.6 seconds left put Glenbard West to within one at 57-56. However, Sullivan sank three more free throws to ice the game. He finished 7 of 9 at the line.

Sullivan’s teammate David Cohn was the other Duke to reach double digits in scoring with 14.

Cannon said that despite the majority of the conference schedule still ahead for York, this victory was crucial.

“Anytime you can win a West Suburban Silver game on the road, it gives you a chance to win a championship,” he said. “We could have crumbled after the first quarter, but we fought hard.”

Glenbard West was led by Michael Mache’s 19 points. Todd Lowery followed with 14. Mache scored 13 of those points in the opening quarter to give the Hilltoppers their strong start. The team shot 8 of 15 in the first eight minutes, with Mache going 6 of 7.

“They turned up the pressure and we had a hard time handling it,” Hoder said.