Glenbard North dunks WW South
With a five-game road trip just around the corner, Glenbard North wanted to put on a good show for the home crowd Friday night in Carol Stream.
The Panthers wasted little time getting their fans on their feet with a rapid start that paved the way to a 25-10 first-quarter lead on their way to a 69-50 DuPage Valley Conference win over Wheaton Warrenville South.
On the night’s opening possession, Jeremiah Fleming knocked down a 3-pointer, and just seconds later his Glenbard North teammate Chip Flanigan swiped a Tigers pass and raced down the court for a slam dunk that sparked the home crowd.
Flanigan added a layup and Justin Jackson followed with a steal and a fastbreak and it was 9-0 less then three minutes into the game. To the Tigers’ credit, they made a little run in the second quarter and closed the gap to 32-24 following a 3-pointer by Matt Kienzle, but the Panthers pulled away in the third quarter on their way to improving to 11-3 on the year and 5-1 in the DVC.
“We’ve got a big game tomorrow, so we just wanted to come out tonight and get things done,” said Jackson, who had 13 points and 7 rebounds. “This team is a good team, but we felt we were better and we just wanted to go out and show it.”
Jackson also said the Panthers wanted to play well before embarking on the road trip that kicks off with a game Saturday in Downers Grove against Hinsdale Central.
“We have five straight on the road and so we wanted to get our crowd into it early. Obviously, Chip with that dunk did that,” Jackson said. “That’s important, jumping out to leads also to get our home crowd into it. We wanted to get a lead and keep it up.”
With Fleming tallying 10 points in the first quarter alone and Jackson and Flanigan scoring on the transition, the Panthers offense flexed its muscle early on. But coach Joe Larson felt his team’s defensive play in the third quarter was just as important.
After Kienzle scored 12 points through two quarters, the Tigers (2-12, 0-6) trailed 39-27 at the half before the Panthers built a safe lead of 61-39 after three quarters after a22-12 advantage in the third quarter.
“It was a real good team game, I thought, and defensively, especially in the third quarter when we kind of pulled away, I thought we really played good defensively,” Larson said. “They can shoot the ball. Give them credit for coming back.”
Wheaton Warrensville South coach Bob Szorc liked his team’s effort, but he also left impressed with the Panthers talent on this night.
“They’ve got a lot of weapons,” he said. “They’re very explosive. I thought we battled back well and then we got impatient. But they deserve all the credit in the world. They’re a very good basketball team. They do what they do very well.”
Flanigan finished with 18 points to lead the Panthers, while Kienzle led a balanced Tigers attack with 12 points and Joe Metzger added 10 points.