Glenbard East clinches share of DVC

One play midway through the third quarter summed it all up.

Glenbard East’s Zach Miller picked off a Glenbard North pass, then diced his way through traffic to find Pat Walsh cutting to the basket.

Walsh got fouled while finishing the play and proceeded to drain his free throw.

It was nothing but hustle, execution and a perfect example of why Glenbard East has been such a force in the DuPage Valley Conference the last two seasons.

The Rams (19-3, 11-0) clinched at least a share of their second straight conference title after downing the Panthers 74-63 in Carol Stream on Friday night. They play Naperville North and West Aurora next weekend with a chance to clinch the title outright.

“It was a great play by (Walsh). He ran hard and was able to finish at the rim,” Miller said. “A huge goal of ours is to go back-to-back winning conference, but we know the job’s not done.”

A frantic pace marked the style of play in the opening minutes of the first quarter.

It was no secret the Rams were looking to run. Miller, Jon Hill and Dante Bailey all poured in 3-point shots as the Rams offense dominated in transition early.

“We wanted to play that way. We’ve played that way all year,” said Glenbard East coach Scott Miller. “We wanted to create a tempo that was fast and dig into their bench a little.”

Glenbard North (8-13, 4-7) managed to trade baskets with the Rams early in the game thanks to junior standout Josh Fleming. Fleming had six points in the first four minutes of the game and ended with 25.

“We had a great team effort for three games this week,” said Panthers coach Joe Larson. “We shared the ball real well.”

An emphatic tip-in dunk by Hill got the visiting crowd fired up toward the end of the wild first quarter. Hill posted a double-double as he ended the night with 11 rebounds on top of his 24 points.

The final play of the first half showcased Hill’s role as the go-to-scorer this season for Glenbard East.

The Rams broke the Panthers full-court press as the seconds ticked down to halftime and then squeezed a pass down to Hill. Hill drove hard to the basket, drew the shooting foul and swished both free throws in a critical possession.

“Our thing was to come out and run them,” Hill said. “They came out shooting lights out on us, but then we did a great job as a team containing that.”