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Whiteside leads Glenbard South to OT win

Was it grand theft? That's hyperbole, of course, but you might not fault Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke for feeling that way.

The Raiders raced out to a 36-19 halftime lead against host Ridgewood on Friday, then had to hold on tight as the Rebels made five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to push the game to overtime.

But a dive for a loose ball by junior guard Antonio Carter with 26.1 seconds left that led to a Ridgewood technical foul gave the Raiders just enough breathing room to survive 70-66 and improve to 7-10 in a Metro Suburban Conference crossover.

"We talk about stealing them on the road," Hardtke said. "You have to defend your home court and you've got to steal one on the road. This is a tough place to come and play, and those guys are a scrappy group.

"Unfortunately down the stretch we kind of saw, we were playing not to lose instead of playing to win, and we were able to get that righted just enough in overtime," he said. "We'll take them any way we can."

Early on, it looked as if Glenbard South would be on cruise control this night. They jumped out to a 25-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, thanks to a trifecta of 3-pointers from senior guard Brandon Whiteside and a pair from junior forward Tommy Powers.

But the Rebels chipped away at the deficit and pounced in the fourth quarter, using an 11-2 run to start it, and an 11-2 run to end it.

Along the way, they hit 5 long-distance shots, including an NBA-length 3 by senior Dominic Devivo with 1:55 and a layup by senior Michael Barnas 39 seconds later that gave Ridgewood a brief 61-60 lead.

Whiteside, who scored 26 points, came to the rescue with a free throw with 54.7 seconds that pushed the game to overtime and narrowly missed a 3 as time expired that would have won the game.

The teams traded punches through the first half of overtime before the Raiders assumed control for good with a three-point play by Whiteside with 2:26 left that gave them a 67-66 lead.

They were up 68-66 when the play of the night occurred. Carter made a dive for a ball that got loose from Ridgewood junior guard Eryk Kamysz. Kamysz desperately tried to call time - but the Rebels were out of timeouts, which resulted in a technical foul. Whiteside went to the line and hit 1 of 2, then added one more with 15.3 seconds to set the final score.

Whew.

"They got hot around the third quarter and we were looking to attack and get consistent looks inside," said Powers, who finished with 19. "We wanted to keep the defensive pressure up toward the end, and Antonio came up with big play, diving on floor there and swung the momentum our way."

Added Whiteside: "It's a huge game. Anytime you can win a game on the other team's home court. We knew they were a good team, scrappy and big."

The Raiders shot 40 percent from the field and but got outrebounded 23-20.

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