Spartan Roundup Feb. 21

BOYS BASKETBALL - Glenbrook North earned a share of its tenth straight conference title by destroying Maine East 73-39. Niles North also won, meaning the Spartans will not be participating in the Central Suburban League title game because they have been to the title game more recently than the Vikings. With a 65-50 win over Hersey earlier in the week, GBN won consecutive games for the first time in over a month. got back to his early season form by scoring 28 points. The Spartans (18-7, 8-2) close out the regular season at Niles West on Tuesday.

GIRLS BASKETBALL - The girls dominated Schurz 50-11 in regional quarterfinal action at Resurrection on Tuesday. Rachel Blitt scored 16 points. The next day the No. 13 seed Spartans gave No. 4 seed Lincoln Park a tough test, but ultimately fell short 66-55. GBN got as close as four points in the fourth quarter. After a 5-23 season, next year will be a fresh start. Blitt and sophomore Rachel Dress figure to lead the way next year along with junior Whitney Landman, who will be returning from injury.

WRESTLING - Andrew Maksimovic went 1-2 at state this weekend in Champaign to earn a tie for seventh place at 140 pounds. Maksimovic lost his first round match to Sandburg's Dan Argueta 7-5, but rebounded with a 14-7 win over Leyden's Andy Nguyen in the consolation round to stay alive into Saturday. Maksimovic's high school career ended with a 6-3 loss to Joliet West's Jim Spangler.

HOCKEY - The Spartans keep rolling along in the playoffs. They closed out the Metro North Playdowns with a 4-1 win over Lake Forest to finish first in the playdowns. On Saturday they beat Sandburg 2-0 in the Scholastic Cup quarterfinals. Jonathon Gauger scored at 10:07 in the first period, assisted by Nick Day, and that lead held up until an empty netter by Jack Day with 12 seconds remaining iced the game. Troy Carroll made 21 saves for the shutout. GBN is now undefeated in its last ten games and will play Barrington in the semis in Wilmette on Wednesday. In other news, the Spartans missed out on making the HIT semifinals by a point.

BOYS SWIMMING - As host of the Glenbrook North Sectional, the Spartans finished fifth in the team standings. Sean Sullivan won the 200-yard individual medley to qualify for state. Jason Chen (200 freestyle) and Matt Bacinich (100 free) also qualified for next weekend's festivities at New Trier. All three relay teams, the 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free, will be competing next weekend as well.