Schaumburg dumps Glenbrook North for 18th win
With a five-game win streak in hand, Mid-Suburban West West co-leader Schaumburg traveled to Northbrook Monday evening to face a Glenbrook North team that brought a four-game win streak of its own to the nonconference boys basketball makeup game which had been postponed earlier due to inclement weather.
The visiting Saxons would need to weather an early 3-point storm by the host Spartans in order to clear themselves to a 49-35 victory.
"That was a really good win for us on a Monday night away (from home)," Saxons coach Wade Heisler said. "I thought we really turned it up defensively. Heze (Trotter) and Chris (Hodges) had big nights. It was a total team effort."
The total team effort that brought victory to Schaumburg (18-5) came after falling behind the host school by as a many as 9 on a Jeremy Gertz 3-pointer just 14 ticks into the second quarter. It was GBN's fifth 3 of the game in just a little over a quarter.
It would turn out to be its last successful conversion from beyond the arc as it missed its final 11 attempts from deep the remainder of the contest as the Spartans went for 8 for 32 overall after Gertz's 3.
Meanwhile, things turned around for Schaumburg on the offensive side of the court as it outscored Glenbrook North 20-3 in the final 7:46 of the opening half which allowed it to take a 26-18 advantage at the break.
Junior guard Arnav Karnik (7 points) got the ball rolling with back-to-back 3s followed by 9 of senior forward Trotter's game-high 16 points. The Missouri Western football commit added 9 rebounds for the visitors.
Hodges, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, took over for Schaumburg in the second half with 9 of his 13 points. In addition, he added 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks on the evening as North would get no closer than 7 on a 3-point play by Alex Press (8 points) that came off a steal with 4:24 left.
Hodges felt that a key to turning things around after a slow start was better floor communication with his teammates.
"We just focused on the defense ahead and we had to communicate the first couple of set plays," Hodges said. "We ran into screen action and a lot of movements that we had to talk (our way) through. Offensively, we had to slow down and run our offense and be more consistent."
Senior forward Brian Johnson led the Spartans (13-10) with 13 points including a trio of 3-pointers in the opening quarter of play.
For Schaumburg, it returns home to a 3-game homestand where it faces Hoffman Estates (Friday) and Chicago Von Steuben (Saturday) this weekend before a February 15 MSL West clash with co-leader Fremd.
"I feel great about where we're at but we try and focus on the moment," Heisler said. "We never try to get ahead of ourselves."