Same old story: Glenbard West beats Lyons Twp. again
Needless to say, but Lyons Twp. coach Tom Sloan probably won't be disappointed not seeing Glenbard West on his schedule until next season.
Sloan, like many West Suburban Silver coaches, has discovered that the third time is not a charm, nor fourth time - and in Lyons' case, the sixth time - when playing against an iconic Glenbard West team.
For the sixth time since Feb. 20, the Lions suffered a loss at the hands of the Hilltoppers, bucking their recent trend by nearly pulling off an upset before falling 62-50 to the top-ranked team in Illinois in LaGrange.
Glenbard West's Caden Pierce, a Princeton recruit, had another impactful effort coming on the heels of his stellar all-around showing against Young last Saturday. He made three 3s in the first quarter and several clutch defensive plays late in the game to stave off the upset, allowing the Hilltoppers (23-0, 7-0) to stay undefeated heading into Saturday's home game against St. Charles North.
Pierce led all scorers with 25 points and drained five 3-pointers, and Braden Huff, a Gonzaga recruit, had 15 points.
"My teammates just found me going early on, and I hit some 3s on the first few possessions and that settled me down," Pierce said. "They kept hitting me. I was open and my shot was feeling good and I had a lot of confidence.
"We've built our schedule with a lot of tough teams. This isn't the first time we have faced adversity like that. We knew we could bring it together, play together as a team and knew it was just a matter of getting a few stops and scores on the other end. We did that, and the game opened up."
The Lions, who had won seven straight games since losing to Glenbard West (23-0, 7-0) on Dec. 31 in the final of the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic, almost pulled off a shocker after cutting the deficit to 52-50 with 4:04 left. But they missed their last eight shots and turned the ball over three times.
"Lyons is a fantastic team, and we knew playing Lyons for the sixth time in a year, we knew they had nothing to lose and they're a talented shooting team," Glenbard West coach Jason Opoka said.
The Lions (18-4, 6-2) have posted an 18-1 record against the rest of their schedule. Although they lost for the third time this season to the Hilltoppers, Sloan said his team gained a moral victory in the near victory. Junior guard Nik Polonowski put on a shooting show from beyond the arc, hitting six 3-pointers - five in the second half - to finish with 20 points. Senior point guard Tavari Johnson added 14 points, as the Lions shot 12 for 34 on 3-pointers.
"(Polonowski) knocked down a bunch of shots, contested shots, but our kids fought through adversity and made some defensive plays and hit shots," Opoka said.
In front of a nearly packed crowd in the cavernous old gym, the Lions came a couple possessions away from erasing all the frustration of the past few years, Sloan said.
"It was a great game, especially with four minutes left," Sloan said. "(Glenbard West) actually had to play on both ends of the floor ... It was an outstanding atmosphere. I was just really happy for our kids, to come out and hit the first few shots. The kids were in heaven. It was so exciting for them, then the fact it was back and forth and close throughout. The kids are never going to forget this. Unfortunately, it was in defeat, but after the last couple of years and what's been going on, this was a really exciting packed gym."
The Hilltoppers had a rougher time disposing of the pesky Lions in Round 3 this season compared to their 71-34 running-clock romp on Dec. 3. The Lions made the Hilltoppers work for every point in the first half, trailing 21-20 after the first quarter. Just when it looked like the Lions might be on the verge of a monumental upset, Pierce and Bobby Durkin drilled back-to-back 3s to ignite a game-turning run that extended the lead 37-24 in a matter of minutes.
Trailing 46-36 to start the fourth quarter, the Lions avoided another blowout loss to the Hilltoppers with a sizzling shooting effort in the first few minutes. Aidan Sullivan opened the fourth with a 3-pointer, then Polonowski made three 3s over the next four possessions and Johnson swished a short floater to cut the deficit to 52-50. But the Hilltoppers clamped down on defense, not allowing a point the rest of the way to spoil a stellar outing by Polonowski.
"It was definitely a game of runs, back and forth and they had a great fourth quarter," Huff said. "But when they pulled to within two (points), we kind of locked in on the defensive end and dialed in on their shooters, and take that away and make them beat us by driving in and getting into the paint."
Sloan added: "Nik was shooting it like crazy, and we had six 3s in the first quarter was a great start. Nik has played well all three times we've played them. He's a big perimeter player who can get shots."