Glenbard West shares the load in win over Glenbard East

Swiftly, the Glenbard West boys basketball team is proving it has plenty of weapons beyond senior guard Evan Taylor.

Take Saturday afternoon's game against geographic and district rival Glenbard East at the When Sides Collide Shootout. Sure, Taylor was his usual self, piling up 16 points and 14 rebounds.

But consider the contributions of senior guard Griffin Foster. His pair of 3-pointers ignited a 17-4 run late that reversed a 3-point deficit and allowed the Hilltoppers to prevail in a tight game 56-50. Foster canned 3-pointers at 5:04 and completed the run with another with 48 seconds left.

Then there's 6-foot-5 freshman forward Braden Huff, who played all 32 minutes, scoring 10 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. He had a key layup in that 17-4 run and also took a hard charge in the first quarter by Rams forward Anthony Shockey, a football player last fall.

Want more? How about 10 points from senior guard Carter Lindstrom, or 6 tough points off the bench from senior forward Mitch Gertzen?

They needed every one of those contributions, in part because senior center Caden Phillips was out with a sprained ankle. Glenbard East was as solid as solid could be for the first three quarters, including a 15-2 spurt in the first quarter that gave the Rams a 15-6 lead at its conclusion.

"I think we had a little better balance in the fourth quarter attacking," Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder said. "We talked about having balance attacking the rim and shooting 3s. It can't be all just one or the other."

Balance was the name of the game in that fourth quarter run for the Hilltoppers (16-5). Down 46-42 with 3:57 left, Huff hit on a layup down low and then Lindstrom canned a 3 from the left arc at 2:51. Taylor then went to work inside, with a fake-in-the-lane layup with two minutes to go and a jumper in the lane a minute later.

Foster, also a Hilltoppers tennis player, iced the game with a 3 with 48 seconds left.

"For the most part (the Rams) were doubling whoever took the ball down, so that led to more open shots for us," Foster said.

Added Huff: "I think it was just the fact we never gave up and our determination on the boards. We just stuck in the game."

Glenbard East, which fell to 10-12, got a yeoman's effort off the bench from sparkplug sixth man Deon Cook, a junior guard, who finished with 14 points and 4 rebounds. The only player who scored more for the Rams was fellow junior guard DaRon Hall, with 15, 13 in the second half.

"I bring a lot of energy off the bench and we've been struggling," Cook said. "We played them in the Thanksgiving tournament and it was good to be in control most of the game."

It was a loss for the Rams, of course, but there was plenty for coach Scott Miller to feel good about coming out of the contest, especially Cook's effort.

"Thursday he had a career high, he had 24, so probably since Christmas he's gotten better and better," Miller said. "We like him coming off the bench and giving us that little spark."

Yet another junior guard who was a major contributor was Alijah Nelson, who scored 10 and hit on three 3-point baskets. Still … it was a loss.

"You've got to finish it off," Miller said. "You can't play three-and-a-half quarters and win the game. I'm proud of the guys, proud of the effort, we just couldn't execute at the very end."

Rebounds were nearly even, with Glenbard West prevailing 27-26. Senior forward Antonio Davis had 11 boards for Glenbard East.