York glad to be done with Glenbard West
York's boys basketball team won't miss Glenbard West one bit the rest of the season.
In a quirk of the schedule, the West Suburban Silver foes met for the second and final time on Tuesday. The Dukes earned a season sweep with a 57-50 victory in Glen Ellyn, but not without a considerable amount of run swapping.
York's 11-0 burst midway through the third quarter finally gave the Dukes (15-1, 4-0) the lead for good, although it took another 12-2 run - sparked by Nick Kosich's 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter - to put the outcome to rest.
"It's a game of runs," said Dukes senior Erik Cohn, who scored 6 of his 14 points during the 11-0 run. "We were finally able to take control in the third. That's just a capable team. We jumped on them early, and we love to do that, and they just came right back."
The tone was set in the opening four minutes of the game when York's 7-0 lead was answered by 11 straight points from Glenbard West (11-5, 1-3), which received a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds from Southern Illinois-bound senior Evan Taylor.
The Hilltoppers led by as many as 5 points, taking a 30-26 lead early in the third quarter on a Corey Williams 3-pointer. That's when York fought back with 11 straight points, including a Nate Shockey 3-pointer that put the Dukes back on top at 31-30.
"We kind of came out lackadaisical the first half, which we can't let happen again," said Kosich, who led York with 16 points. "Second half we came out and Erik had a huge third quarter. From there on out we kind of never looked back."
Taylor's putback with a minute left in the third quarter narrowed the gap to 37-32 but Kosich stole all the momentum with his buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
Shockey had 15 points and Sam Walsh 9 points for York while freshman Braden Huff scored 8 points and Caden Phillips 7 points for Glenbard West.
"We knew we were going to have to play well to beat them, but we have stretches where we don't play well," said Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder. "It's not just missing shots. It's fouling them when they attack the paint. It's getting loose balls or getting a rebound. There's just some of those plays you have to have in certain situations. I don't think we really made them tonight."
While the Dukes are done with Glenbard West for the season, York hits the road Friday to face Oak Park (10-6, 4-1) for the first of two critical meetings.
It's one of many challenges to come for York in its chase for the Silver title.
"They're all tough in the league this year," said York coach Vince Doran. "When you go on the road, you'd better be ready to play."
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