Roberts gets winner to drop for Glenbard East
Glenbard East senior Bryce Roberts had several contested shots that just wouldn't go in the fourth quarter.
Then came the easy one that beat Metea Valley.
Out of a timeout taken by Rams coach Scott Miller with nine seconds left, Michael Finley drove into the lane, drawing Mustangs defenders. Finley passed to Roberts alone near the basket and the lanky forward banked it in with four seconds to play.
Metea Valley guard Bryson Oliver's 15-foot leaner bounced off the backboard and Glenbard East claimed the 42-41 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division victory Friday in Lombard.
Earlier in the quarter, in a crowd Roberts missed 4 straight shots within 2 feet of the basket, rebounding his misses each time. He drew on that experience.
“If anything it made me stronger. Mentally stronger, you know?” said Roberts, his game-winning play drawn up by Miller after Rams junior Patrick Peterkin collected a Metea turnover at midcourt.
“Knowing that I missed it earlier in the game I didn't want to mess up later in the game when it mattered,” said Roberts, who scored 8 points with 11 rebounds, 7 of them offensive.
Neither team shot better than the 35 percent of Glenbard East (7-8, 4-3). The Rams were led in scoring by Zach Walsh with 10 points.
Metea Valley (6-8, 3-3) got 12 points and 12 rebounds from 6-foot-6 Mark Konkle, held down somewhat by a 1-2-2 zone defense. Guard Matt Helwig scored 9 points with 3 steals.
“They did a good job with the zone and keying in on Mark, kind of forcing us to hit some shots early,” said Mustangs coach Bob Vozza. “If we'd done that it might have been a bit different. But shots weren't falling for us and we needed to start attacking the basket.”
Oliver heard that trying to dig into Glenbard East's 25-20 halftime lead. The 5-7 point guard, countering Finley's two three-point plays on the other end, scored all 8 of his points in a four-minute span to draw within 31-28.
“I just wanted to get a couple easy baskets in the lane and things like that to get us rolling, to get momentum,” Oliver said.
A Walsh 3 preserved a 34-32 Rams lead entering the fourth quarter. An inside bucket by Konkle gave Metea its first lead, 41-40, with 2:03 to play. The Rams held from there.
“Not one of our better offensive performances, but I thought defensively we played outstanding,” said Miller, proud of his team's resilience. “Rebounded well, limited them to one shot, so we're pleased with that.”