Sports
Boys Basketball: Spartans Bounce Back with Best Game of Year
Glenbrook North came back from its first loss of the season with a 68-49 win over St. Joseph in the consolation quarterfinals of the Proviso West Holiday Tournament on Tuesday.
After losing their first game of the season yesterday, the Glenbrook North Spartans (9-1) responded with what head coach David Weber said was his team's best game of the season, a 68-49 drubbing of St. Joseph Tuesday morning in the consolation bracket quarterfinals of the Proviso West Holiday Tournament.
As the Chargers' Cameron Harvey opened the second quarter with a deep three pointer, cutting GBN's lead to 17-16, the Spartans used a 17-2 run, fueled by eight points from Tommy Hanrahan, to take control of the game. Hanrahan finished with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting (5-of-10 from long range).
"We faced a man to man defense today, which I think made a big difference," said Hanrahan, who also led the Spartans with five assists. "We were able to get the ball inside, which opened up the perimeter for the threes."
Glenbrook North's front court tandem of Andrew McAuliffe and Peter Szostak also finished in the double figures, scoring 16 and 10 points, respectively, while combining for nine rebounds. McAuliffe added three blocks as well.
"Our intensity level was much higher today than it was yesterday," said Weber. "Guys forgot their equipment yesterday, we were scrambling before the game, we played a good team but we didn't play hard. The loss taught us a lesson. We played hard today."
The Chargers made a push early in the third quarter, pulling to within 38-31, but again the Spartans went on the offensive, using a 15-2 run to end any chance of a St. Joseph comeback.
GBN held St. Joe's (1-8) to just 36.5 percent shooting (19-of-52) for the game, and finished with a 34-26 advantage on the boards. The Spartans also out-scored the Chargers, 42-24, in the paint.
"We went to our zone defense because we felt that we couldn't guard teams man to man in this tournament," Weber added. "Take that and put it with our offense and this was the best game we've played all year."
The Spartans advance to face Thornton Fractional North in the consolation semifinals tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m.
Reggie Johnson led St. Joseph with 13 points and 8 rebounds in the loss.
