Glenbard West enjoys Foster's 'breakout' game vs. Glenbard South
Prior to Monday night, Griffin Foster's athletic claim to fame was winning a sectional championship in tennis with doubles partner Christo Maltby.
The Glenbard West senior aced a test of a different kind in the boys basketball season opener against cross-town rival Glenbard South.
Foster took advantage of his first start by scoring all of his personal-best 15 points in the second half. The 6-foot-3 guard drained four 3-pointers to lead the host Hilltoppers to a 53-41 win at the District 87 Thanksgiving Tournament.
"I'm really happy for him," Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder said. "That was a nice breakout for him."
Foster drained his first 3 on the opening possession of the third quarter to give Glenbard West a 30-20 lead. Caden Phillips then split a pair of free throws to bump the lead up to 11, but Glenbard South went on a 10-0 run to cut the gap to 31-30.
The Hilltoppers' lead was 35-32 entering the fourth quarter, when Foster erupted for 11 points, sinking his last 4 attempts.
The first was a putback of a missed 3 from freshman Braden Huff. The next three all were from downtown, part of a 16-2 run to start the quarter that gave Glenbard West a 51-34 cushion.
"It just kind of happened," Foster said. "Our coach really emphasizes transition, so Evan Taylor and Carter Lindstrom look to attack every rebound and I just happened to be open and knocked down some shots."
Most impressively, nearly all of that run came with the 6-6 Taylor on the bench after he tweaked an ankle. Taylor, who finished with a game-high 16 points to go with 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals, returned in time to cap the run with a layup with 2:21 to go.
"They hit some big shots and we couldn't buy one there for a while," Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke said. "We came away empty on a couple possessions and they hit 3s on two of them and the next thing you know, we were down big."
Foster came up big in his first real chance to strut his stuff. He wasn't used last season outside of garbage time but devoted his summer to honing his game.
"Going into the summer after last year, I knew the main way I would get playing time this year was working on my shooting," Foster said. "I just worked so hard on it and it really paid off. I've developed into a really good shooter."
All of the Hilltoppers shot well Monday. Glenbard West made 10 of 22 3-point attempts, with Taylor, Lindstrom and Huff sinking two apiece.
The Raiders went 5 for 13 from beyond the arc and were ineffective from the outside after Tommy Powers drained his first two 3-point tries. Powers had 10 points for Glenbard South, while Tavion Knight and Nick Plaso added 8 points each off the bench.
"It's always a fun game," Hardtke said. "We have room to improve. Fortunately we get to come back tomorrow night and play again."