Fleming takes over at right time

There are occasions during a basketball season when the best thing a coach can do is let his scorer work some magic.

With Glenbard North trailing Lake Park by a point and less than 12 seconds to play, it was James Fleming time.

"Coach (Joe Larson) told me to play point guard and come off a screen and try to create and see what happens," Fleming said. "I saw a lane so I went in there and took it."

Fleming scraped off his defender, wheeled around another Lancer, rose to shoot and was fouled. Two free throws, 3.6 seconds left.

"I was nervous," said the junior guard.

He didn't look it. Fleming sunk both foul shots, and after Lake Park missed a 40-foot heave host Glenbard North (3-4) had a 61-60 win in the nonconference rivalry at Neal Hudson Gymnasium in Carol Stream.

A fast-paced contest containing 9 ties and 22 lead changes, Lake Park (3-6) happened to be on the wrong end of the last one. Of course, Lancers coach Cray Allen had an answer why his club eventually lost its fifth straight game.

"As good a defensive team as I think we are at times, our poor positioning on defense can't be there all night tonight. I thought we'd come up and get a stop," he said. "We talked about not fouling, just competing. And sure enough, we foul at the end, we get off the floor and we fouled."

Both teams also had their share of quick hands. Lake Park, lacking leading scorer Danny Baylis with a bum ankle, got steals by Jason Sotira, Larry Nawrot and Matt Drufke, whose 2 free throws with 11.9 seconds left gave the Lancers that 60-59 edge.

Drufke, hot early and late, scored a game-high 22 points. Josh Antioho and Nawrot chipped in 15 and 10, respectively.

Fleming, Mike Carev, Marko Govedarica and other Panthers capitalized on a half-court trap that didn't pile up turnovers but slowed Lake Park. Glenbard North trailed 33-30 at halftime but led 46-42 entering the fourth quarter, getting offense from Alex Smith and Reggie Davis.

Fleming's 14 points led the Panthers, ahead of Davis' 13 and Carev and Smith each with 9.

Two straight wins does not a streak make, but it was a stride toward the consistency Larson seeks.

"I thought in the third quarter we did a lot of things real well to come out and get that lead back right away," he said. "Down the stretch we made some plays. They did, too. It was a pretty good game to watch, I'm sure."