DeKalb stuns Glenbard West in OT

In a game that featured 16 lead changes, the last one was the biggest - and the loudest.

Sean Reynolds hit a 3-pointer from the corner as time expired, giving DeKalb a 56-54 overtime win over defending Class 4A state champion Glenbard West on Tuesday after trailing by five in the final 13 seconds of regulation.

"It's incredible," said Reynolds of his last-second shot and the crowd's eruption after the win. "We didn't stop fighting. It took 36 minutes, but we did it."

The Barbs (5-0) took the lead 52-51 on a 3-pointer by Reynolds with 1:36 left in overtime. A charge at the other end on the HIlltopers (3-1) gave DeKalb the ball back, and they ate up almost a minute until Darrell Island hit a free throw to get the lead back to two.

But Glenbard West went ahead on the 15th lead change on a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left by Dominik Seaney.

After a jump ball was called on a DeKalb miss in the closing seconds, the Barbs were set for the inbounds with 4.1 seconds left. Island got the ball to Reynolds, Eric Rosenow ran a screen to keep him open, and Reynolds sank his eighth 3 of the game to finish with 28 points.

"I thought Eric set a great screen," Mike Reynolds said. "Maybe they were supposed to switch, maybe they weren't, but Sean got wide open. We thought they were going to switch so we had Eric slip him, they went with the slip, left Sean open, and the rest is history there."

Glenbard West coach Jason Opoka said they were going to switch on the screen, but there was a miscommunication and Sean Reynolds was left open, adding that's what happens when his team doesn't pay attention to detail.

But he added that, although there's a ton of seniors on the team, they still don't have a ton of experience.

"It's going to help us get better over time, definitely learn from it," Opoka said. "The thing about us is we might have a bunch of seniors, but we haven't had a lot of varsity playing minutes. When times get tough and the adversity kicks in, we question our ability when we just need to finish the game and win the game."

After the first quarter-and-a-half was back-and-forth, DeKalb took the lead on a 7-0 run and stayed in front until Benji Zander hit a pair of free throws at the 4:17 mark, part of a 23-point outburst for him.

The lead grew to 46-41 with 12.2 left in regulation after Zander hit a pair of free throws again, but Sean Reynolds banked in a desperation 3-pointer with 6 seconds left. Luuk Dusek went to the line to ice the game for Glenbard West, but missed both of his free throws with 4.8 seconds left.

The Barbs went for the home-run inbounds pass down the court, and Glenbard West seemed to come away with the steal but was called out of bounds. A quick foul kept the ball with DeKalb, taking it from the sideline with 1.7 seconds left. The pass went to Davon Grant, who hit the layup for the tie to force overtime.

"It was obviously a tough game, a lot of lead changes, and a lot of times we could have given up or not tried to get a good shot," Mike Reynolds said. "But I think we did it, and we had some great screens and a great read by Davon at the end of regulation and we were able to pull it out in overtime."

J.T. Duffy scored 10 for the Hilltoppers, while Jayden Wilson had nine points and 12 rebounds.

Island had just one point but also seven rebounds, a team-best for DeKalb. Grant had 10 points despite spending most of the game on the bench with foul trouble.

"We just want to find a way," Mike Reynolds said. "We're not pretty, they're not either. We're kind of in the same mold. We play different styles but we're the same mold."

"We're tough, we're competitive, we're fighting to the end. Some things didn't go our way ... but our guys figured it out."