Overtime goes Glenbard South's way vs. Fenton
Unable to dent Fenton's 1-3-1 zone defense for more than 10 points after one half, Glenbard South's boys basketball team needed something.
"I think we were afraid to make a mistake early on," said Raiders coach Wade Hardtke. "We talked about being confident, being strong with the basketball and just attacking and trying to get inside."
When junior center Jacob Folkerts got involved in the paint it also led to outside looks. The Raiders forced overtime with a trio of 3s and won the Upstate Eight Conference game 43-38 on Friday in Glen Ellyn.
"Shots started to fall and we got the outcome we wanted," said one of those marksmen, Nick Plaso, whose 10 points followed Folkerts' 11 for Glenbard South (12-4, 7-2). Fenton's Diamon King led all scorers with 14 points.
Fenton (11-8, 5-4) led 34-31 on Andre Reed's pullup jumper with 2:50 left in regulation. Plaso tied the score on a 3-pointer from the left wing with 58 seconds left. Assisting was Cade Hardtke, who had joined Brandon Malone with an early fourth-quarter 3 to make it a dogfight.
"That shot I took," Plaso said, "my teammates had faith in me and it felt great for it to go in. It was a big momentum-changer there in the fourth quarter, and to send it into overtime and come home with a win is a great win."
The visiting Bison had time left, but Glenbard South's Trevor Burnett forced a turnover and Fenton also missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw opportunity with 2.7 seconds left. The Bison went 2 for 7 from the line in the third quarter and 9 of 18 for the game. Glenbard South was 9 of 17 from the line.
"Like any other game, you can't be disappointed because once you start being disappointed in yourself your game falls off," said King, who joined Reed, Frank Krygier and Ricky Lopez as the Bison's scorers all with at least 7 points.
"That's one thing I refuse to let myself or let my fellow teammates do. We've just got to come back and learn," King said.
Glenbard South's 9-4 overtime edge started with a Malone floater and two Plaso free throws. Two Lopez free throws had Fenton within 38-36 with 1:15 left in overtime.
The Raiders scored the next 5 points. A biggie was Folkerts' crowd-pleasing two-handed dunk off his steal. Burnett followed with another steal.
Fenton's zone gave the host trouble, forcing 22 turnovers for the game. The Bison led 14-10 at halftime.
"You've got to make shots in this environment, you've got to put a full game together," said Bison coach Chaz Taft. "We played a good first half. We've got to put a second half together now."