St. Charles East boys basketball steals win from Glenbard North in final minute

ST. CHARLES – St. Charles East's defensive pressure finally paid off during a well-executed Glenbard North stall in the closing minutes of Friday’s DuKane Conference opener.

After the Panthers ran the clock down to less than a minute, the Saints forced a turnover that ended with an uncontested basket to tie the game.

A clutch free throw 26 seconds later sealed St. Charles East’s 42-41 victory on its home court.

With three minutes left to play in the fourth quarter, a layup by St. Charles East’s Cooper Jensen whittled Glenbard North’s lead down to 41-39.

Aided by timeouts and out of bounds calls that went the Panthers’ way, Glenbard North took more than two minutes off the clock.

The Saints’ tenacious defense finally paid off with 57 seconds left to play. Sam Tisch poked away the ball on a Glenbard North inbound play at midcourt. The senior corralled the loose ball and swished in an uncontested layup to tie the game 41 all.

After Maharri Thatch’s shot to return the lead to the Panthers missed, St. Charles East’s Gavin Serlong was fouled on a shot attempt with 21 seconds left. The senior connected on his second free throw to put his team up 42-41. A last-second Glenbard North (2-2, 0-1) shot bounced off the rim and Tisch grabbed the rebound as time expired to preserve the win.

“The first three quarters, I wasn’t playing my best, but my teammates were able to lift me up and kept pushing me,” Tisch said. “They helped me to persevere until I finally got that tip and get us the momentum to win the game.”

“I had confidence in the guys, they have been playing great defense,” St. Charles East coach Robert Klemm said. “We had a couple of close tips and then Sam had a great steal.”

The two squads played a well-contested game. Glenbard North jumped out to an early 7-0 lead as St. Charles East was scoreless until back-to-back baskets by Bradley Monkmeyer (eight points) late in the frame.

The Panthers led 12-6 after the first eight minutes.

St. Charles East (4-1, 1-0) took its first lead of the night with 1:23 left until halftime on a Jensen inside basket. The junior led the Saints’ scoring with 11 points.

That lead was short-lived.

Thatch (seven points) drained a three from the right wing at the buzzer to tie the contest at 18-18.

Glenbard North retook the lead at the 6:30 mark of the third quarter on an Oturo Redento (11 points) trey, 21-18. The rest of the frame featured four lead changes.

The Panthers led 31-27 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Halfway through the last period, the Panthers extended their lead to 39-33. St. Charles rallied with a 6-2 run that ended with Jensen’s bucket and started the Panthers’ keep away strategy.

“I thought Oturo Redento and Matt Welch (11 points), two new varsity kids, played really well,” Glenbard North coach Kevin Tonn said. “Unfortunately, Oturo got into some foul trouble, but they did some really good things.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241206/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-st-charles-east-steals-win-from-glenbard-north-in-final-minute/