Glenbard West offense stalls in loss to Oak Park
The scoreboard may have disagreed by a couple points, but it didn't matter to Oak Park-River Forest.
A solid road win in the West Suburban Silver was all that mattered.
The Huskies led the entire second half of Friday's 61-46 boys basketball victory over Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn, never allowing the Hilltoppers to come closer than 4 points away despite a few attempts at a game-changing run.
Oak Park (9-6, 3-1) thwarted them all - and a scoreboard that read 59-48 at the end - behind a balanced effort without starting guard Dashon Enoch, who missed the game due to food poisoning.
"It was a change in mentality in the fourth quarter and just who wants it more," said Huskies senior Anthony Roberts, who scored a team-high 21 points. "We just had to shut them down. It was a self-check where we just had to step up. And then we just fed off each other."
Glenbard West (11-4, 1-2) received 21 points and 10 rebounds from Southern Illinois-bound Evan Taylor but couldn't sustain any momentum against Oak Park's pressure and man defense. The Hilltoppers took two leads in the first half but both were followed by extended droughts.
They endured five droughts of at least two minutes, including one of five minutes that spanned the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth. The result was a 10-0 run that pushed Oak Park's lead to 46-32.
"We just couldn't get any momentum on offense," said Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder. "We needed to be a little more consistent against them. This is probably the most pressure we've seen individually, and we have to learn to handle that."
Carter Lindstrom knocked down a 3-pointer to pull the Hilltoppers within 52-45 with 3:06 left in the game but Glenbard West looked out of gas down the stretch as Oak Park rattled off 9 straight points.
Chase Robinson scored 9 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter for Oak Park. Corey Williams scored 8 points for Glenbard West.
"They're a great team and this is a tough place to play," said Oak Park coach Matt Maloney. "With Taylor and everyone else, they're always dangerous. To start the new year this way, coming on the road, I think it's a big win for us."
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