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Defense sparks Glenbard South past Belvidere

Twelve combined third-quarter points does not scream sectional boys basketball. Yet that period helped propel Glenbard South to its first sectional final since 2000.

The third-seeded Raiders trailed No. 6 Belvidere by 2 points at halftime in Tuesday's Class 3A Woodstock North sectional semifinal, then held the Bucs to 0-of-13 third-quarter shooting before a 20-point fourth quarter earned a 56-47 Raiders victory.

Glenbard South (20-9) advanced to Friday's sectional final against the winner of Wednesday's game between No. 1 seed Rockford Boylan and No. 2 Kaneland. It's 10-year Raiders coach Wade Hardtke's first sectional final.

"Defensively, we stepped it up in the second half," Hardtke said. "Points were tough to come by tonight."

"(Trailing by) four going into the fourth," Belvidere coach Aaron Pearson said, "I felt like we were down 15, 20, you know what I'm saying?"

Particularly with each team's leading scorer limited by foul trouble in a game in which 47 free throws went up. Glenbard South's Billy Bair scored 7 and DeAnte Barnes scored 4 for Belvidere (16-17).

"He's a huge part of our team offensively and defensively. But when we see him on the bench we can't take the foot off the gas. We've just got to keep going, got to play with what we've got," said Glenbard South senior guard Tim Marks, who scored a game-high 15 points with teammates Povilas Riauba adding 14 and Johnny LaPonte 10.

LaPonte started crisply with two early 3-point baskets, but 12 lead changes and eight tied scores later the Bucs led 29-27 at halftime.

Shorter than Glenbard South, especially lacking the 6-foot-5 Barnes much of the time, Belvidere outrebounded Glenbard South 15-7 in the first half. The Bucs still held the edge afterward, but Glenbard South won the second-half board battle 21-20.

"I don't think we were boxing out in the first half," said Raiders junior center Charlie Bair, who scored 8 points with 13 rebounds. "In the locker room we just talked about how we had to box out and not let them get the boards."

"They really hurt us getting to the rim in the first half," Hardtke said, "so we were trying to take the drive away as much as we could and we did a better job in the second half."

Holding Belvidere to 3 free throws and forcing 6 turnovers, Glenbard South led 36-32 after three quarters. Bucs guard Nate Horton led them back to 40-40 with 5:03 to play, and it was 43-42 Glenbard South with 3:58 left.

Consecutive inside baskets by Marks and Charlie Bair and two Riauba free throws began a 10-2 run for a 53-44 Raiders lead with 1:15 remaining.

A 3 from Bucs 14-point scorer Austin Revolinski came six seconds later, but LaPonte and Brandon Whiteside hit free throws that swept Glenbard South into Friday's sectional final.

"It's a great feeling," Marks said. "It's what every kid dreams of. It's a feeling unlike anything else."

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