Glenbard East beats Willowbrook in overtime
It depends what jersey you were wearing.
Jack Rivas's layup attempt as time expired Tuesday went through the hoop as both Glenbard East and Willowbrook waited. The shot was signaled to have counted, leaving Rivas's hand before the horn sounded to extend the regional semifinal game for four more minutes.
One team agreed. Another team disagreed.
Glenbard East proved too much in the overtime period as DaRon Hall's 31 points led the second-seeded Rams past 13th-seeded Willowbrook 75-70 in the Class 4A Willowbrook regional semifinal.
While controversy surrounded the Rivas shot at the end of regulation, Hall and Glenbard East (21-9) never showed signs of panic after trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half.
"We weren't going out like that," said Hall, who scored 16 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter. "Coach told me to not let the missed shots get to me and just keep firing. I got hot in the second half and just kept letting it fly. I wasn't going home tonight ... It wasn't just me though, it was all of us. We got it done on offense and defense and did a great job."
Hall had just 6 points at halftime on 3-of-10 shooting as the Rams trailed 36-31 at the break. Willowbrook (13-20) was led by Isaac Gaines, who scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the first half.
Hall, a senior guard, caught fire after the break. He knocked down 8 of 15 shots in the third and fourth quarters, including four made 3-pointers - the last of which tied the game at 62-62 with 1:12 left in regulation.
Another Hall score was sandwiched by buckets from Willowbrook's Sean Paige and Everett Stubblefield III in the final minute, which led to the Rivas buzzer-beater.
"That's been the story of our season all year. We never give up," Glenbard East coach Scott Miller said. "You have to give Willowbrook a lot of credit tonight. They made things very difficult for us, but we had guys make plays. This time of the year, crazy things can happen. We're happy that we made just enough plays tonight to live to fight another day."
Warriors coach Chris Perkins, who said he believed his team won Tuesday's game, wasn't surprised his team's came down to the final possession. Glenbard East carried the momentum into overtime, as Deon Cook had back-to-back steals for layups in the extra period to give the Rams a 4-point lead.
Willowbrook made just 1 of 9 field-goal attempts in overtime.
There was a deflation as the Willowbrook coaches gathered watching multiple videos of the final play of regulation in the locker room.
"You don't want to let the game come down to a call by the (referee)," Perkins said. "It was a bang-bang play, but I thought (Rivas) was still gathering to go up and it was definitely after the buzzer ... In a season that we dealt with a lot of these types of games, sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn't."
Paige finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds, while Stubblefield also reached double figures for the Warriors with his 16 points. Joe Hamilton reached double figures with 12 points for Glenbard East, which advances to play either Batavia or Glenbard West in Friday's regional championship.
"We know there's going to be games like this and we just have to stick together," Rivas said. "We know there's going to be adversity and we just have to believe in each other and do what we've been doing all year."