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Glenbard South makes it eight straight

All year long the Glenbard South Raiders have played hard, but lately they seem to be having a little more fun.

And with this fun has come a lot more wins. After a slow start in the win column this season, the Raiders knocked off Fenton 64-44 Friday night to win their eighth straight game and climb over the .500 mark for the first time this season.

The Metro Suburban Conference West Division win, Glenbard South's second this season over Fenton, featured the same formula that has led to the big turnaround - tough defense, strong rebounding and a balanced attack.

Kyle Carli paced the Raiders with 13 points, and the junior guard also had 8 rebounds. But early on it was forward Billy Bair who gave the Bison problems, as he scored all 10 of his points in the first half.

"We have 6-5 Billy Bair and he destroyed the boards. He played like a man today and we just gave him the ball in the post and he knew what to do with it," said Carli, who put the home team up for a good with a 3-pointer from the top of the key that broke a 7-7 tie with 1:53 left in the first quarter. "In the second half we decided to put the guards in the post because we had a little height advantage and we went to work there."

To Fenton, which lost point guard Eric Trujillo to a broken wrist earlier this week, Glenbard South looked a lot more like a team on a long winning streak and less like the one that opened the year 3-10.

"They're giants. They're so tall down there," Fenton coach Josh Payton said. "Both of the Bairs (Billy and Charlie) are very talented kids. They're very good at knowing what they want to get out of their offense, and they focus on when to get the ball down there."

The Bison (6-16, 1-7) trailed just 14-11 after one quarter, but after Derrian Warren picked up two fouls in the quarter and was forced to sit down awhile, the visitors had no answers for the taller, deeper Raiders. A 20-5 second quarter that saw Billy Bair score four baskets inside and Tim Marks two down low, sent Glenbard South on its way to an 11-10 overall record and a 6-2 mark that has them in second place in the MSC West.

"It's an amazing feeling," Carli said. "This year we started off really slow and we lost so many games in a row. Now that we're 11-10 it feels so much better to be on the other side."

Raiders coach Wade Hardtke said his players deserve a lot of credit for sticking with the game plan after the tough start this season.

"It's been a long climb but you've got to give the kids credit," Hardtke said.

"They could have kinda folded it early on but they keep working hard and getting better … we still haven't hit our peek yet. We've just got to keep working."

Povilas Riauba had 12 points to join Carli and Billy Bair in double figures, but the Raiders' balance also saw Marks tally 8 points off the bench and Tyler Scott add 7 points. For Fenton, Kenta Jones had 11 points and 2 steals, while Warren and Benji Hamgeri each added 6 points.

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