Glenbard West's lead slips away vs. Lyons

Let's not forget about Lyons Twp. in the West Suburban Silver.

You've got York and Oak Park as the proven front-runners. There's Glenbard West surprising with a young group. Hinsdale Central's hotter than anyone and Downers Grove North is the ultimate wild card.

But the Lions appear capable of anything at this point.

On Saturday their boys basketball team tallied another quality victory by beating Glenbard West 57-54 in front of a packed house in Glen Ellyn.

On the heels of wins over Waubonsie Valley (20-2) and DeKalb (18-5), Lyons Twp. (13-6, 3-4) is a team to watch.

"This is why kids love to play high-school basketball, competing in an atmosphere like this," said Lions coach Tom Sloan. "We've seen some close games go the other way so hopefully it's a nice trend to see those games go our way."

The Lions rallied from a 41-32 third-quarter deficit, taking a 53-52 lead on Ben Engels' 3-pointer with 1:33 left in the game. A pair of missed free throws by the Hilltoppers (13-5, 1-5) proved costly as Michael Niedermeyer - who hadn't played in a couple weeks due to injury - knocked down four straight from the line to seal the Lions' victory.

"It was a battle the whole time," Engels said. "We just kept battling and hit some big shots late. We've been playing in front of tough crowds all year so we're just able to play through it."

The Lions hit all 7 of their free-throw attempts while Glenbard West shot 4 of 11. While the Hilltoppers made eight 3-pointers, four Lyons Twp. players combined for 10.

Colin Lewis led Glenbard West with 12 points. Caden Pierce had 11, Paxton Warden 10 and Braden Huff had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Grant Niego led all scorers with 18 points for the Lions. Stefan Vasic scored 13 points and Christian Desimon added 10 off the bench.

"They made one or two more plays than we did," said Glenbard West coach Jason Opoka. "We knew once we started playing conference the intensity would increase. We've done a nice job competing but now we've got to learn how to finish."

Twitter: @kevin_schmit