Enright, Glenbard South rebound for win against Glenbard East
Kevin Enright missed the second half of last season with a wrist injury. Now he's back, and his innate ability to be active around the ball is already paying dividends for the Glenbard South boys basketball team.
The senior guard scored 9 Tuesday, but more importantly, he grabbed 12 rebounds — 5 offensive — to lead the Raiders to a 50-37 victory over Glenbard East in the second round of the District 87 Thanksgiving Tournament.
“It just comes from playing so much,” Enright said. “Last year we were a smaller team, so we always prided ourselves on getting rebounds, so that's what I try to do a lot.”
He did his part, and as a matter of fact, so did his teammates. Glenbard South controlled the glass to a tune of 34-18, including 16 offensive rebounds.
“I was proud of our effort on the glass on both sides,” said Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke, who saw his team improve to 1-1. “It was one of our keys tonight coming in, and I think our guys did a great job, everybody. It wasn't even really one person, per se.”
Senior forward Cole Hardtke added 9 points and 9 rebounds, while senior center Ryan Harrington chipped in 15 points.
Glenbard East coach Scott Miller admitted that the deficit in rebounding was tough to bounce back from.
“I thought the last quarter and a half they hurt us on the glass,” said Miller, whose team fell to 0-2 on the young season. “We've got to address that, we've got to get tougher on the glass, and we will.”
Glenbard East's ability to shoot the 3-pointer will keep the Rams in a lot of games this season, just like Tuesday's. Junior guard Alijah Nelson led the Rams with 14 points and hit four 3s.
The teams traded 10-3 first-half runs before the Raiders began to pull away toward the end of the first half. A 12-2 run from the last 1:43 of the second quarter and the first 2:29 of the third put Glenbard South up 32-24.
The closest the Rams got was 38-34 with 58 seconds to go in the third. The Raiders closed the contest with another 12-2 run. In that period Enright grabbed 5 rebounds.
“We really missed him on the back half of the season last year,” he said of Enright, who stands 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds. “He just has a nose for the ball and a head for the game and always seems to be in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing.”
Meanwhile, Nelson credited his teammates for his ability to put up the 3.
“My teammates set screens, getting me open, hitting me when I'm open,” he said. “I set my feet when I shoot. I just don't flare up shots. I follow through when I shoot and I just got hot.”