Glenbard West claims share of conference championship
Glenbard West's boys basketball team knew it must endure a 12-game marathon to reach history.
Even before the season, though, Hilltoppers senior Justin Pierce narrowed the race to two games against Oak Park.
Behind Pierce's monstrous 29-point, 17-rebound effort, Glenbard West clinched a share of its first conference title in 43 years with Friday's 59-53 West Suburban Silver victory over the Huskies in Glen Ellyn.
"Oak Park's a heck of a team. Everyone had them penciled in as their preseason favorite," said the William & Mary-bound forward. "So I had Jan. 8 (a 71-56 win) and (Friday) circled on my calendar, knowing that if we went 2-0 in those games we'd have a really good chance of getting our goal."
The Hilltoppers (20-2, 8-1), who also notched 20 wins for the first time since 2007, have three chances to wrap up the title outright, starting with Saturday's trip to Hinsdale Central.
"Winning the West Suburban Silver is a pretty big accomplishment," said Hilltoppers senior guard Alex Passi, who added 11 points while fighting through foul trouble. "It would be awesome to win the whole thing. Forty-three years has been a long time."
Glenbard West led for good after Pierce's 3-pointer late in the first quarter, but Oak Park (14-10, 6-4) used a 10-2 third-quarter run to make the second half way more exciting than the Hilltoppers would have liked.
Three times the Huskies pulled within 2 points in the game's final two minutes, and they narrowed the gap to 54-53 with 27 seconds left on a putback by Eddie Gorens. Glenbard West answered with 5-of-6 free-throw shooting from Passi and Nick Diver to seal the win.
The Hilltoppers managed only 6 second-half field goals, including 1-of-10 third-quarter shooting. Five were by Pierce as the Hilltoppers scored 21 of their 33 second-half points from the line.
Balanced Oak Park was led by 15 points from freshman Dashon Enoch. Breshawn Wilkerson had 14 points and Connor Fuller 11 points.
"This is something all the kids wanted to do and be a part of," said Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder. "At the same time we would like to keep working and keep getting better, and win it outright. I'm happy about it, but I think it's probably something we'll really celebrate later on."
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