Glenbard South can't hang on against Riverside-Brookfield
Squaring off against the No. 10 team in the AP's most recent Class 4A boys basketball polls, it'd have been easy for Glenbard South to dote on the fact that it was playing one of the better teams in the state.
But when it's a conference rival like Riverside-Brookfield, you don't have such luxuries.
The Raiders hosted the Bulldogs needing a win on Friday night in Metro Suburban Conference West Division action. They battled hard and led into the second half before ultimately losing 65-53. It was a strong effort from a team that drops to 3-10 with the loss, but Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke wasn't taking solace in hard-fought defeat.
"In the second half we let their pressure get to us a little bit and we have to stay in attack mode," Hardtke said. "That was what we talked about after the game."
Neither team managed a point in the game's first 2:30 of game action. When the scoring did start, it was Riverside-Brookfield that raced to an early 7-0 lead.
However, the Raiders had faith in the game plan. With Bulldogs leading scorer Sam Johnson saddled with two first-quarter fouls, Glenbard South applied the pressure.
"We wanted to come out in a full-court press to up the tempo of the game and to try to create turnovers," Glenbard South junior center Billy Bair said.
That pressure inevitably led to 7 turnovers by the Bulldogs in the first half as Glenbard South finished the first quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 9-7 lead into the second. There, Bair's presence inside and a 10-point quarter from junior guard Povilas Riauba helped extend the Raiders' lead to 28-21 at the half.
Bair led Glenbard South with 17 points on the night.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, they couldn't sustain the pressure in the second half. Instead, Riverside-Brookfield started to apply its own heat, turning over Glenbard South 24 times on the night.
And, despite Sam Johnson being held below his season average with 13 points, the Bulldogs got a big night from sophomore guard Jalen Clanton.
Clanton scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, and after Riverside-Brookfield (15-1) took a 44-42 lead into the fourth, the game never got closer than one possession again.
"Overall, their guards outmanned our guards. They came out and forced more turnovers than we did and I think that's why they won," Bair said.