A joyous 24 hours for Osborn, Wheaton Academy

Wheaton Academy coach David Osborn might have been exhausted Friday night, but he has been doing an awful lot of smiling the past 24 hours.

After his wife gave birth to the couple's first child around midnight Thursday, he showed up for his team's Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division boys basketball game at Glenbard South short on sleep and then guided the Warriors to a thrilling 59-57 defeat of the Raiders.

Wheaton Academy trailed by 6 heading into the fourth quarter but rallied for its fourth win in five games to even its season mark at 4-4 while moving to 2-0 in the conference. Four Warriors scored in double figures, with J.D. Gunn leading the balanced attack with 14 points.

"We got hot at some times, but it was a game of runs," said Osborn, who reports that both his wife and new daughter are doing well. "I think our guys just competed for 32 minutes today. They fought through and competed. They just had an approach like, 'Hey, we're going to go out and get this one.' "

The back-and-forth contest saw Wheaton Academy lead 15-10 after one quarter before Glenbard South (2-5, 1-1) drew even at 26-26 at the half behind 9 points from junior guard Brandon Whiteside. Gunn had helped the Warriors lead early by tallying 7 points in the first quarter, including a 3-pointer to open the scoring.

But Whiteside and 6-foot-6 center Charlie Bair powered the Raiders ahead 46-40 after three quarters before Wheaton Academy got hot enough in the final quarter to pull out the win. Bair finished with a game-high 20 points and Whiteside added 18, but the Raiders came up just short.

A Whiteside driving basket had put the hosts ahead 48-40 early in the fourth before the Warriors went on an 11-2 run that featured 7 points by sophomore Jack Dykema.

"We got down by a few and we overcame adversity a few times. We played a lot of team basketball," said Dykema, who had 11 points and 2 steals. "Our team played really well and we were knocking down shots in the second half."

Dykema started the season on the junior varsity squad but has helped the Warriors turn things around ever since.

"I got pulled up and I feel like I have helped contribute," he said. "The first three games it was tough to lose, but we like how we've come back. We've turned it around and we like how we've been playing more intense team basketball and being tough."

Gunn missed a couple bonus free-throw chances late but did connect on two foul shots for a 58-55 lead with 55.4 seconds left and split a pair of free throws with 3.5 seconds left to make the final 59-57.

"It was pretty wild at the end. They kept fouling me and I couldn't make my free throws," Gunn said. "I made them when it counted most. That's what matters. We've come a long way the last couple weeks and this is a big win."

Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke tipped his hat to the Warriors for knocking down some big shots. But he also felt his team got away from a successful formula late.

"We had chances. Unfortunately, our shot selection down the stretch was not very good," Hardtke said. "I would like to have seen us have a little more patience as well. We seemed to be doing quite a bit of damage inside and I thought we kind of got away from that unfortunately down the stretch."