The rematch: Trevians hand Titans 'uncharacteristic' loss
Home court has not been an advantage this boys basketball season in games between Glenbrook South and New Trier.
After losing by 20 points in Winnetka in December, on Jan. 27 New Trier dealt Glenbrook South a 51-45 loss in Glenview, a Central Suburban League South game between two of the state's top teams.
Trailing 26-24 at halftime, New Trier quickly claimed a third quarter lead it never relinquished, and built a 9-point lead inside of two minutes left to play.
"That first game they executed really well, they knocked down a ton of shots, and they outplayed us, they beat us," said Trevians coach Scott Fricke, out with COVID like two of his players when Glenbrook South won 73-53 on Dec. 9.
"We know we're a good team, we know they're a good team, and we play each other 20 times, it's probably equal," Fricke said.
Still owning a half-game lead in the CSL South, Glenbrook South (20-2, 6-1) held The Associated Press' No. 2 spot in Class 4A rankings. New Trier (21-2, 5-1) was No. 6.
New Trier's Dartmouth-bound 6-foot-8 forward, Jackson Munro, scored 6 points in the Trevians' home loss. Rekindling his battles in the paint with Glenbrook South's 6-7 Nick Martinelli, Munro scored 20 points - 10 in the fourth quarter - and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Elon commit Martinelli, who reached the career 1,000-point mark with his third point on a free throw at 3:40 of the first quarter, finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds.
"I was a little under the weather (on Dec. 9), but I think it was mostly just I wasn't aggressive enough, I was a little passive," Munro said. "And I knew this game if we were going to win I had to be aggressive, I had to take it to Nick.
"My biggest scoring games are usually my biggest rebounding games. I think for me, the more I touch the ball I just sort of get the momentum going, so I think that correlates," Munro said.
Glenbrook South's R.J. Davis quickly came off the bench for a pair of 3-pointers to help the Titans to a 12-12 tie after one quarter, and he hit two more 3s that with a pair of Martinelli putbacks had Glenbrook South leading 26-24 at halftime. Davis joined Martinelli with 14 points.
Yet under the stern defense of New Trier point guard Peter Kanellos, Titans sharpshooter Cooper Noard was held scoreless in the first half and to 2 points through three quarters. A 3-pointer nearly from half-court in the fourth helped him generate 11 points.
"That was a team effort," Fricke said. "Obviously Peter Kanellos did a great job on him, but it was five guys playing hard."
"They were physical with him," Glenbrook South coach Phil Ralston said of Kanellos' defense on Cornell commit Noard, who eclipsed 1,000 points earlier this season.
"There were lots of moments in there where he's coming off ball screens, he's getting bumped a little bit, and we just didn't make them pay," Ralston said.
Several times Ralston called his team's play "uncharacteristic." One aspect of that was the typically free-flowing Titans' lack of transition baskets. Spencer Brown's second-quarter lay-in was Glenbrook South's sole fast-break bucket.
Anchored inside by Munro and aided by 6-4 guard Jake Fiegen's 13 points and 6-2 guard Josh Kirkpatrick's 12, New Trier's half-court game held sway.
"We didn't really play hungry at all," Martinelli said. "We came into this game obviously after the big win against Simeon (57-54 on Jan. 22) and we just didn't do what we needed to do. We'll get better. It's better now than later in the year in the playoffs."
Fiegen's 3 from the left wing 11 seconds into the third quarter gave New Trier a 27-26 lead and launched a 10-4 Trevians run. Fiegen's lay-in on a high-low pass from Munro capped the third-quarter scoring with New Trier up 36-32.
"Coach Fricke called the (3-point) play and I knew it was going to go in as soon as he called it," Fiegen said. "I knew I'd be open, it's a great play. It means a lot, because hitting your first shot is a big momentum change."
Munro went to work in the fourth quarter, his 7 points along with Noah Shannon's 3 and a Kanellos free throw building the Trevians' lead to 47-38 with 1:44 to play.
Noard entertained the nice crowd with his 32-foot 3-pointer and added a runner in the lane to bring the Titans within 49-45 with 16 seconds left. Single free throws by Kirkpatrick and Munro cinched New Trier's victory.
"We held them to 40-some points and that doesn't happen very often," Fricke said.
Nope. Sometimes, though, a midseason loss to a strong opponent can be of benefit.
"I just feel like our intent and purpose now is set - we know they threw us a great punch today and we didn't respond," Ralston said. "We need to now make sure that we're in a better position for the end of our season to make sure that we're ready for it."