Glenbrook South tops Stevenson to claim another Molitor tourney title
Glenbrook South is back on the prowl.
Led by the early hot shooting by Josh Wolf, the Titans sprinted out to a big lead. They then held off a spirited Stevenson squad for a 68-60 win Saturday in the title game of the Ed Molitor Thanksgiving Classic in Palatine.
It is the fourth tournament win for the Titans in the last five years. The only year they did not win the championship was the COVID season.
Glenbrook South (4-0) looks like it is way past a rebuild mode after a number of consecutive successful seasons. The Titans are finding a plethora of players ready to step up this season.
“It has been a nice run,” Glenbrook South coach Phil Ralston said. “The kids came in and said they don't want to be the one to not do it. I thought the kids played a nice game. We were battling foul trouble, but we had other kids step up. If you take out one of our pieces, we have a few more that might be able to get you.”
It was Wolf, who scored all of his 11 points in the first half, that enabled the Titans to pull away early.
Leading 11-8 later in the first quarter, Wolf buried a pair of 3-pointers, including one at the end of the period. He would then have a layup and just moments later add another 3 as the Titans opened up a 24-10 advantage.
With Gaven Mark also leading the way, Glenbrook South would go on to convert nine consecutive field goals.
“I got going early,” said Marr, who would finish with 21 points and nine rebounds.
“When you make those first couple baskets, our confidence really went up.”
Stevenson (3-1) made a run to close out the half and make it 34-26. The Patriots, who rallied Friday to beat Palatine, looked for the same Saturday.
Behind Christian Uremovich (16 points), Aidan Bardic (14 points), Jack Dabbs (12 points) and David Sulnius (10 points), Stevenson continued to chip away at the lead and closed twice to within four.
But Rodell Davis, Jr., who would be named the tournament MVP, made sure that the Titans would go home happy.
Davis scored 19 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to end the threat by the Patriots.
“The first half I was kind of getting denied,” Davis said. “I know I needed to score for my team to be successful. We are a team that likes to shoot a lot of 3s and we have a lot of capable shooters, but we also know at the end of the game we have to get to the basket.”
Stevenson coach Pat Ambrose said that the slow start hurt his team.
“We didn't start out very good in the first quarter,” Ambrose said. “Especially defensively just giving up too much easy stuff. We played with them the rest of the way, even at times outplaying them. But couldn't get it done.”
Palatine 61, Hersey 22:
In the third-place game, Palatine (3-1) bolted to an 18-4 lead after the first quarter and cruised from there. Connor May led the Pirates with 23 points, Tyler Swierczek added 17 and Sam Millstone had seven points. Jackson Hupp led Hersey (2-2) with eight points.