Hinsdale Central overcomes Taylor's 33 points
Hinsdale Central knew Evan Taylor was going to get his points ... which almost turned out to be too much.
Overcoming 33 points and 19 rebounds from Glenbard West's Southern Illinois-bound senior, the Red Devils came away with Wednesday's 53-50 West Suburban Silver boys basketball victory over the Hilltoppers in Glen Ellyn.
Taylor scored 16 of his team's 19 first-half points before others got involved to turn a 10-point deficit into a 45-40 lead with 3:24 left in the game. Ryan Isaacson's 3-pointer tied it for Hinsdale Central - its only fourth-quarter field goal - and then the Red Devils made 8 of 10 free throws in the final minute to pull away.
Glenbard West hit 4 of 16 fourth-quarter shots but especially struggled during a three-minute scoreless span down the stretch. Taylor's final two buckets came in the waning seconds with Hinsdale Central ahead by two possessions.
"Everybody was playing well down the stretch, and we were playing good defense," said Red Devils senior Matt Rush, who scored 10 of his team-high 18 points from the line, including 6 in the fourth quarter. "(Taylor's) a really good player. We just had to limit their other players. Everybody brought it for us tonight. It was great to see."
Hinsdale Central (8-15, 3-6) used a 14-2 run to build a 22-9 lead early in the second quarter. Taylor made 7 of his team's 8 first-half field goals while the Hilltoppers missed 19 shots.
The third quarter was much better for Glenbard West (17-7, 4-5), thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from both Griffin Foster and Carter Lindstrom, who had 8 points. That allowed the Hilltoppers to rally, but it wasn't enough to overcome Hinsdale Central's depth.
Twenty-eight points came from the Red Devils' bench including 12 from Isaacson and 8 from sophomore Sam Hoiberg.
"It was a good team win," said Red Devils coach Nick Latorre. "I feel like our guys are starting to morph into their roles."
Taylor scored all 12 of Glenbard West's fourth-quarter points.
"We've been pretty good closing out games, but we weren't able to close out this one," said Hilltoppers coach Tim Hoder. "We just struggled to make shots down the stretch and didn't force them to make shots."
Twitter: @kevin_schmit