advertisement

Glenbard North, Hinsdale Central win at Downers North

Glenbard North's boys basketball players had to endure perhaps the longest 17 seconds of their lives, but it proved worth the wait.

The Panthers held on for a 53-50 victory over Downers Grove North in the final game of Saturday's Winter Classic shootout hosted by the Trojans.

After Nick LaVere knocked down a pair of free throws to extend Glenbard North's lead to 53-50 with 17.7 seconds left, Downers North (8-8) had numerous chances - surrounded by three timeouts to set up plays - to tie the game with a 3-pointer. The Panthers defended all of it, including the game's final play when LaVere tipped away an inbounds pass to preserve the victory.

"It seemed like the end of the game took 10 minutes," joked LaVere, who scored 8 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. "We were real good defensively the whole night, but we finally started knocking down shots and got the win."

Glenbard North (5-10) trailed by as many as 7 points in the first half. And with the Panthers shooting horrendously, the Trojans could have pulled away to a much bigger lead. The Panthers didn't let it happen.

Led by Myles Moore's five 3-pointers in the middle quarters, Glenbard North climbed back quickly and tied it at 21 by halftime.

A 10-3 run to start the third quarter pushed Glenbard North to a comfortable lead, but then it was Downers North's turn to rally. The Trojans tied the game at 45 apiece on Devin Blake's putback with 2:41 left.

LaVere, however, answered with a three-point play to put the Panthers ahead to stay at 48-45.

"We didn't play with the energy and the passion we played with (Friday) night," said Trojans coach Jim Thomas, referencing his team's last-second loss to Glenbard West. "We had opportunities to take it from them and we sure didn't step up and do it."

Moore led Glenbard North with 17 points. Bryan Jakobsze had 13 points for the Trojans and Blake added 10 points.

"I was proud of our composure and how we handled the game," said Panthers coach Joe Larson. "We've had a couple tough games where it didn't go our way, but we kept our composure."

Hinsdale Central 45, Wheaton North 42:

Too much Hinsdale Central in the third quarter and too little, too late by Wheaton North.

The result was Saturday's 45-42 victory for the Red Devils at the Downers Grove North Winter Classic.

There were four lead changes and three ties before Hinsdale Central (9-7) took control with a 16-2 run to start the third quarter. With Chris Eck scoring 9 of his 10 points during the burst, the Red Devils built a 33-19 lead.

Wheaton North (10-5) eventually whittled down the deficit to a single possession and had the ball in the final minute, but the Falcons couldn't convert. Three-of-seven free-throw shooting down the stretch was just enough for Hinsdale Central.

"We needed it," said Red Devils coach Nick Latorre. "Really good team win. I thought we showed some grit and hung in there with a good team."

After scoring his team's only 6 points in the first quarter, Wheaton North's Luke Anthony scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter. Rowan McGowen added 10 points.

Balanced Hinsdale Central was led by Trevor Hamilton's 12 points off the bench, Peter Blust's 11 points and Eck's 10 points.

"We've got to be able to do the little things for 32 minutes," said Falcons coach Dave Brackmann. "We've done this a handful of times where we go through a stretch where we don't have any energy and dig ourselves a hole."

Follow Kevin on Twitter

@kevin_schmit

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.