Glenbard West comes up short vs. LT

Senior guard Evan Taylor is graduating as the leading scorer in Glenbard West boys basketball history over three varsity seasons.

Taylor would have given just about anything for one or two more baskets Friday.

The 6-foot-6 Southern Illinois-bound Taylor was at the heart of the Hilltoppers' phenomenal comeback from a 16-point deficit in the second quarter of the Class 4A Glenbard West regional final, but Lyons Township's late free-throw perfection pulled out a 54-51 victory in the rubber matchup between the West Suburban Silver rivals.

"There's probably like two possessions. I had a couple of shots that if they would have gone in, we would have had the lead and kept it," said Taylor, who became scoring leader during Wednesday's overtime semifinal victory over Naperville North.

"(The comeback is) a testament to how hard we've worked. Naperville North also, we were down 6 at the half and came back. This whole team, we never give up. Things just didn't go our way today."

Taylor scored 6 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter for the No. 6-seeded Hilltoppers (20-10). Senior Carter Lindstrom had 9 points on three 3s, freshman Braden Huff had 8 points and senior Kyle Dell added 6 points on two 3s.

Senior guard Tyrese Shines had 18 points and junior reserve guard Grant Niego 12 for No. 4 Lyons Township (23-9), which meets No. 1 Geneva (30-1) in Tuesday's Bartlett sectional semifinal.

Shines had 13 points in the first half, helping the Lions take a 26-10 lead with 5:26 left in the second quarter and hold a 36-25 halftime advantage after 13-for-28 shooting and four 3s.

Glenbard West briefly took its only lead since the opening two minutes when Taylor converted a three-point play for a 49-48 lead with 2:56 remaining.

"I'm really proud of them. I think we played a little looser when we were down. That propelled us to be a little more aggressive and attack," Glenbard West coach Tim Hoder said.

"They're such a great group of kids. I'm not the least bit surprised that they got back into this. They spent too much time, they worked too hard at it and they're such a close-knit group, especially the seniors, and it's really a great (crowd) atmosphere. I had no doubt we'd battle back."

The Hilltoppers had two possessions to increase their 1-point lead but missed two shots, including one by Taylor that landed in the basket but already had been out of bounds on top of the backboard.

LT then made 6 of 6 free throws in the final 1:59 - two pairs by Shines and one by Niego. After Shines' pair for a 54-51 lead with 13.5 seconds, Taylor missed a driving inside shot, and the Lions rebounded and ran out the clock.

LT has won eight straight, including 63-56 at Glenbard West on Feb. 12 after the Hilltoppers won their first meeting 48-45 in overtime Jan. 16 in LaGrange.

One reason is that the starting lineup has been intact after Shines and fellow senior starter Josh Berry missed roughly a combined 18 games.

The Lions overcame not making a field goal the final 5:59 after pulling ahead 48-40.

"To hang on, that's probably the thing that I'm most proud of," LT coach Tom Sloan said. "(Glenbard West) took the lead and I think we came right back down. That was a real gut-check time and a real credit to the group. They didn't waver. They didn't panic."

Taylor continues the recent run of Glenbard West all-time standouts that has included John Shurna and Justin Pierce. The next in line may be the 6-5 Huff, who had 6 points in the fourth quarter, including the last of Glenbard West's eight 3s.

"How much (Taylor has) improved since sophomore year. He's made himself into such a complete player," Hoder said.

"I've been lucky to have some amazing individual kids. You have a kid like John Shurna, you don't know if you'll ever have another kid of that caliber and then you get a Justin Pierce and then you get a kid like Ev (Taylor)."

This season Taylor averaged nearly 22 points as well as 10.5 rebounds and 4 assists all while often playing point guard and being a ballhandling workhorse. His greatest improvement may have been his mid-range shooting.

"It's crazy to think I'm in that ballpark with Justin Pierce and John Shurna. I think one of the things that distinguished me from those two is probably just the amount of work I had to do to become a complete player," Taylor said.

"I wasn't really a great shooter compared to (them). I had to work hard and really practice that. Hopefully I left my mark on the school and the kids here that if you work hard you can achieve anything."