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Glenbard South pushes past St. Francis

Glenbard South needed a late push in the final minute to pull away in its regional semifinal game against St. Francis.

The Raiders took their final lead of a back-and-forth game with 1:29 left on a floater in the lane by junior center Billy Bair, and they connected on 5 of 6 free throws in the final 41 seconds.

The result was a 61-56 win over the Spartans on Wednesday that secured Glenbard South a shot at its first regional title since 2009. The Raiders (16-12) advance to play Aurora Central Catholic on Friday at the Class 3A Illinois Math & Science Academy regional.

"We get to enjoy this one for the bus ride home and then we have to switch gears and get ready for (Aurora Central Catholic)," Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke said. "We've seen them a couple times. They're going to be ready and we need to be sure we're ready too."

St. Francis finished the year 15-12.

"If there was an effort award, I thought we would have gotten it tonight, but that doesn't get you to play Friday night," St. Francis coach Bob Ward said. "But I am very proud of the kids. I've never had a better group."

Neither team managed to gain the momentum in the first half. The deficit was never higher than 4 points in the first 16 minutes.

Glenbard South looked to take control in the third quarter on the play of junior Tim Marks, who scored 8 of his 14 points during that stretch, including 6 in an 8-0 Raiders run that put them up 37-32.

But the Spartans' transition game cut the deficit down to 3 on a pair of fastbreak layups from Jason Sullivan and Will Purdom just before the end of the quarter.

The Raiders took their largest lead of the night midway through the fourth quarter when Kyle Bogda found Bair underneath for a 52-46 lead. Bair led all scorers with 23 points.

"(Bair) has been our leading guy all year long," Hardtke said. "I've been talking with him about getting to that point where he can be a double-double guy. The game plan was to keep him inside as much as possible, and we were able to get him some looks and he was able to finish."

St. Francis followed with a 7-0 run that gave the Spartans their last lead at 53-52 with 1:55 left before Bair's floater in the lane.

"I thought that our kids kept coming back," Ward said. "When it looked like you're dead in the water a few times in the fourth quarter, we kept getting extra shots and putting pressure on them defensively."

  Glenbard South's Jonny Gutierrez takes a shot over St. Francis' Daniel Malek during the boys basketball Class 3A IMSA regional Wednesday in Aurora. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Glenbard South's Billy Bair celebrates his team's 61-56 win over St. Francis during the boys basketball Class 3A IMSA regional Wednesday in Aurora. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Glenbard South's Tim Marks drives around St. Francis' William Purdom during the boys basketball Class 3A IMSA regional Wednesday in Aurora. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  St. Francis' Jason Sullivan heads up for a shot with pressure from Glenbard South's Kyle Carli during the boys basketball Class 3A IMSA regional Wednesday in Aurora. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  St. Francis's Mike Shaw lays up for a shot against Glenbard South in the boys basketball Class 3A IMSA regional Wednesday in Aurora. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  St. Francis' Mike Shaw takes a shot over Glenbard South's Kyle Carli during the boys basketball Class 3A IMSA regional Wednesday in Aurora. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
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