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Boyle, Rams clean up on Glenbrook S.

When a referee spotted blood on his jersey, Casey Boyle was required to head for the bench.

Per IHSA rules, the 6-foot-8 Grayslake Central center would not be allowed to re-enter Saturday’s nonconference game against visiting Glenbrook South until the blood was removed. So the team’s trainer worked furiously to clean up the spot.

When Boyle re-entered a couple minutes later, he did the cleaning up. It was a continuation of his dominating effort in the paint that started with a 13-point first quarter.

Boyle finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds in leading Grayslake Central to a convincing 65-52 victory.

Glenbrook South never got a break from the beating it took inside. CJ Stempeck, Boyle’s 6-foot-6 partner-in-crime in the paint, contributed 10 points to the cause.

The Rams, who have won five straight games and six of their last seven, improve to 9-8 on the season. Glenbrook South, which never had a lead, drops to 7-11.

“In the first quarter, we really worked the inside,” Boyle said. “Me and CJ got some tough points in the paint. We were also able to kick it out to Kyle Shepard and Jordan Taylor for some three-pointers.

“It just really works when we are patient on offense and play our game, working it inside, getting layups, passing it outside and getting threes.”

Behind Boyle’s early barrage, the Rams rolled to a 25-9 advantage by the end of the first quarter.

Glenbrook South cut into its deficit in the second quarter with the aid of a full-court press and was down 33-24 at halftime. But Stempeck scored two quick buckets at the beginning of the third quarter and guard Jordan Taylor added another to push the Rams ahead by 15 points.

But then Jack Ryan led the Titans on a 7-0 run to cut the Grayslake Central lead to 8 points. It was the closest Glenbrook South would get for the rest of the game.

Taylor, who finished with a game-high 20 points, then went on a quick eight-point scoring binge that put the Rams back up by 11 heading into the fourth quarter.

“We were just patient and we got our big men involved,” Taylor said. “Getting our big men involved first is what helps us (guards) get in the flow of the game.

“When the defense is worried about the big men, then the outside shots are open all day. That’s good.”

The Rams got a couple of big three-pointers from Shepard (8 points) and good minutes out of Daniel Reed, a sophomore guard who was recently brought up and got his first start.

Reed was helping to fill in for three guards who are usually in Grayslake Central’s rotation. Caleb Longenecker (college visit), Savonte McWilliams (injured) and Tyler Smith (sick) missed the game for various reasons but are all expected to be back for the next game.

“It would have helped to have had those ball-handlers (when Glenbrook South was pressing),” said Grayslake Central coach Brian Moe, who is now 2-0 against his alma mater, including last year’s victory over Glenbrook South. “But I thought Danny Reed did a pretty good job for playing in his first varsity game and having just one practice with us.”

Glenbrook South got a team-high 16 points out of Corey McMahon and 13 points apiece from Ryan and Justin Busiel.

“We did some good things and we played hard,” Glenbrook South coach Scott Nemecek said. “But it’s hard to play a team like (Grayslake Central). We collapsed our defense in and then (Jordan) Taylor hit two three-pointers for them. So it’s like, you’re not finding a place where there’s a weakness.”