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Inspired Glenbard South beats Montini in overtime

In a game like this, Glenbard South's boys basketball team used any mojo it could get, even from 120 miles away.

"We were inspired," center Ryan Harrington said of the Raiders girls team winning its Class 3A semifinal on Friday afternoon.

"I couldn't go to the game, obviously, but I was watching on TV, to give me motivation, you know? We have to live up to what they're doing right now," said the 6-foot-8 senior.

Glenbard South is several steps from that but survived Montini at the Class 3A IMSA regional final Friday night in Aurora.

The Raiders won 60-56 in overtime, surmounting a herculean, 36-point effort by Broncos guard Jermari Harris, who scored 20 points after the third quarter.

"Man, that was tough from the beginning all the way to the end, and it took an extra effort at the end, even," said Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke, whose No. 1 seed Raiders (23-6) move to Wednesday's Class 3A Marengo sectional semifinal against No. 2 Woodstock North, a 67-63 winner over Genoa-Kingston.

"Tip your hat to Montini, they played a heck of a game," Hardtke said. "We struggled offensively, but we were able to get it going in the overtime finally."

Tied 45-45 entering overtime after No. 5 Montini (12-20) missed a 3-point shot inside the fourth-quarter buzzer, Glenbard South sank 9 of 10 free throws and got two key field goals, a Tommy Powers 3 and a Cole Hardtke deuce on which he was fouled and added the free throw.

That gave Glenbard South a 58-51 lead with 25.1 seconds left in overtime. Harris laced a 3 with 13 seconds left. Two seconds later Raiders guard Kevin Enright hit two free throws. Harris drove for a dunk and Glenbard South let the last five seconds expire for its third regional title in four years.

"This was a tough one," said Harris, the Iowa-bound football player whose prior high was 27 points. "This is my last high school game in general so I wanted to go out on top. But at the end of the day I did what I had to do. We played hard, just could not do it."

Montini's stifling 2-3 zone with 6-4 Fred Stokes inside helped create a 14-7 Broncos lead after one quarter and a 17-7 lead early in the second.

A Powers 3 from the left wing - the same spot as his overtime dagger - launched a 19-2 run for a 26-19 Raiders halftime lead.

"It was tough penetrating in their defense, so we took a lot of 3s and then we transitioned to get it more inside," said Harrington, who scored 12 points along with Enright. Powers and Cole Hardtke each scored 13 points; Stokes scored 9 and Julian Gatewood 7 for Montini.

Tied 33-33 after three quarters, the unstoppable Harris paced a 45-41 Broncos lead with 1:51 left in the fourth quarter. Enright drew an offensive charge then hit a lane floater. Harrington followed a Broncos turnover with an inside basket to send the game into overtime.

"Normally we've crumbled with adversity, but we pulled our pants up and kept fighting," said Montini coach Bob Lozano. "Went into the locker room down 7, came back out, tied the game back up and had a chance to win the game in regulation. I can't ask for much more. I really can't ask for much more."

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