The Glenbard East boys basketball team suffered another heartbreaking defeat on their home court when they dropped a 58-54 overtime decision to Naperville Central in Friday’s DuPage Valley Conference game in Lombard. The loss came six days after the Rams’ last home game—a double-overtime setback to Crete-Monee in the inaugural When Sides Collide event. The DVC loss to the Redhawks pushed the Rams’ home record during the 2011-12 season to 0-5. Through Friday, the Rams were 9-9 overall and 3-4 in the conference. Glenbard East rebounded from a terrible start against Naperville Central to take a four-point lead by the end of the third quarter. The Rams held a lead for about seven minutes and 59 seconds of the fourth quarter, but Naperville Central tied the game at 49-49 by hitting a 3-point shot at the end of regulation. “We came out flat,” said Glenbard East coach Scott Miller. “We fought, we got back in it, and we took control. Down the stretch, we didn’t hold our composure. We missed free throws. We had too many turnovers and too many bad shots.” The Redhawks took a quick 8-0 lead during the first two minutes of the game. Their lead grew to 13-0 with about 3:40 left in the opening quarter. Senior Dante Bailey provided Glenbard East’s first points of the night when he drained a 3-point shot with about three minutes to play in the period. Senior Evan Peterson added a 3-pointer less than one minute later. Junior Tahron Harvey scored with about 1:40 remaining in the period to complete an 8-0 run that closed out the first-quarter scoring. Naperville Central made a pair of 3-point shots at the beginning of the second quarter to take a 19-8 lead. Bailey and Harvey helped the Rams reduce the deficit by combining to score 11 of the team’s 12 points in the second quarter. Bailey contributed six points, while Harvey added five points on consecutive field goals—a basket and a 3-point shot that sliced Naperville Central’s lead to 22-19. The Redhawks led the Rams 25-20 at halftime. The Bailey-Harvey tandem combined to score all 18 of the Rams’ third-quarter points. Bailey scored 10 points on a pair of 3-point shots and a couple of 2-point baskets. He connected on a 3-pointer about 40 seconds into the quarter to open the second-half scoring. Bailey’s second 3-pointer of the quarter ended a 19-4 scoring run that gave Glenbard East a 36-29 lead with about 2:30 left in the period. Harvey’s eight-point output in the third quarter included a 3-point play that gave the Rams their first lead of the night—a 28-27 advantage with about six minutes to go in the period. Harvey made two free throws to complete the third-quarter scoring and push Glenbard East to a 38-34 lead with eight minutes to play. Harvey’s basket to kick off the fourth-quarter scoring gave the Rams a 40-34 lead. At that point, Bailey and Harvey had accounted for 36 of their team’s 40 points—19 for Bailey and 17 for Harvey. The Redhawks scored five straight points to cut the Rams’ lead to 40-39 with about 4:35 to play. Harvey responded with a 3-point shot that gave Glenbard East a 43-39 edge with less than four minutes remaining. Junior Marvin Grant-Clark provided the Rams’ next four points with a pair of baskets in a span of about 40 seconds. The second basket pushed Glenbard East’s lead to 47-44 with 1:47 to play. Neither team scored for the next minute, and when Peterson hit a pair of free throws with 23.8 seconds left in regulation to give Glenbard East a 49-44 lead, it looked like the Rams were on their way to a victory. The Redhawks, however, scored a basket off an offensive rebound with about 14 seconds left. A Naperville Central foul sent the Rams to the free-throw line with 11.6 seconds to go. Glenbard East wasn’t able to convert from the foul line, and the Redhawks took advantage, draining a 3-pointer from the top of the arc as time expired to tie the game at 49-49. Naperville Central began the scoring in the four-minute overtime with a 3-point play with 2:17 to play. Bailey’s 3-point shot tied the game about 30 seconds later, but the Redhawks regained the lead by scoring with a little more than a minute to go. The visitors scored again to take a 56-52 lead with 25.2 seconds left. Peterson made two free throws with 20.1 seconds left, and the Rams regained possession following a Naperville Central turnover. The Rams committed a turnover of their own with about 10 seconds to play. The Redhawks sank two free throws with 4.8 seconds remaining to seal their victory. Bailey finished with 22 points, including four 3-pointers. Harvey, who made three 3-point shots, provided 20 points. Peterson added seven points. The Rams fared much better in last week’s road trip to St. Louis, where they faced Alton Marquette in the Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout. Glenbard East beat Alton Marquette 48-34 in Thursday afternoon’s game at the Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis. The one-day event featured eight high school games. Harvey and Bailey scored 13 and 12 points, respectively. “It was good experience for us,” said Miller of the road trip, which featured a stop at Illinois State University on Wednesday to watch the Redbirds in action. Johnny Hill, a standout on last season’s Glenbard East team that went 28-4 and won the third-place trophy at the IHSA Class 4A state tournament, is now playing for Illinois State. “Playing there [the Scottrade Center] was like playing at the United Center. It was really cool, and we got a chance to do it for a good cause.” The Rams will play a DVC home game against Wheaton North this Friday. Willowbrook The Warriors fell to 3-16 overall and 0-6 in the West Suburban Gold Conference following Friday’s 60-45 loss at Morton. Junior Josh Joiner scored 23 points for Willowbrook. Senior Ryan Rader and junior Nick Kilianek both had 10 rebounds. The Warriors lost a 64-47 non-conference decision at Richards on Jan. 24. Rader tallied 14 points and seven rebounds. The Warriors will play a pair of conference games this week. They will travel to Addison Trail on Thursday before meeting Downers Grove South on Friday in Villa Park.
San Juan wins 113-pound championship at DVC Meet
Glenbard East senior wrestler Angelo San Juan won the 113-pound championship at Saturday’s DuPage Valley Conference Meet in Lombard. In addition to winning the title, San Juan earned the Most Valuable Wrestler honor for all weight classes between 103 and 140 pounds. San Juan won three matches at the DVC Meet to improve his overall season record to 34-2. He began the event with a technical-fall victory in a match that ended in the middle of the second period. He delivered a first-period pin in his next match to advance to the 113-pound title match against Glenbard North senior Chris Gonzalez, who entered the contest with a season record of 37-5. San Juan, who lost his previous meeting to Gonzalez, earned a 9-8 win. Seniors Andy Smajic and Eriberto Carreon both earned second-place finishes for the Rams. Smajic claimed second in the 152-pound class, while Carreon was the runner-up in the 220-pound division. Both Glenbard East wrestlers won their first two matches of the conference meet before losing in the championship of their respective weight divisions. Smajic completed the DVC Meet with a season record of 22-8, while Carreon closed the event with a 21-3 record. Freshman Jake Drew won three of four matches and placed third in the 106-pound division. Drew delivered a 5-2 victory in the third-place match to improve his season record to 33-4. Sophomores Dayton Olson and Josh Martin added fourth-place finishes for the Rams. Olson, who competed at the 120-pound division, won two of four matches to move his season record to 20-12. Martin, who wrestled at the 126-pound level, also won two of four matches. His season record now stands at 29-7. The Rams placed fifth in the overall team standings at the eight-team conference meet. Glenbard North, which won six individual titles and claimed four second-place finishes, won the team championship at the event. Glenbard East begins the IHSA Class 3A post-season with this week’s individual regional at West Chicago High School. The top three finishers in each weight class at the regional will advance to the individual sectional at Glenbard North.
Warriors win a pair to move above .500
Willowbrook’s girls basketball team improved its overall record to 12-11 following Saturday afternoon’s 53-46 win over Machesney Park’s Harlem High School in Villa Park. Junior Anita Sterling was the Warriors’ top scorer and rebounder in the victory, which gave the team a winning record for the first time this season. Sterling delivered 14 points and 12 rebounds. Juniors Angela Bruno and Colleen Krawczykowski added 11 and 10 points, respectively for Willowbrook, which has won six of eight games since ending December with an overall season record of 6-9. Senior Cherise Porter scored four of Willowbrook’s final seven points. Porter had not scored any points in the contest when she went to the free-throw line with 1:07 to play. She made both attempts to give the Warriors a 48-43 lead. Porter’s breakaway layup on a long pass from sophomore Molly Krawczykowski closed out the scoring with about eight seconds left in the game. The Warriors improved their West Suburban Gold Conference record to 7-3 with Thursday’s 61-24 rout of Morton in Villa Park. Molly Krawczykowski led the offensive output with 12 points. Willowbrook will play a conference game at Downers Grove South this Friday before returning home for Saturday’s non-conference contest against York.
