Matt Welch’s half-court shot to end first half the difference maker as Glenbard North holds off Batavia

GENEVA — Glenbard North senior Matt Welch knew he had to put up one last attempt to end the first half.

After grabbing a rebound from a missed layup from Batavia’s Jax Abalos with five seconds left and the score knotted at 20-20, the senior took a couple of dribbles to the top of Batavia’s key before letting the ball fly.

But he was ready for it. Especially after the team spent 10 minutes at the end of practice the day before working on half-court shots.

And as the buzzer for halftime rang, the ball banked off the backboard and into the front of the net.

Money.

“I didn’t know how much time was left,” Welch said. “He (Abalos) shot it really fast, so I just grabbed the rebound and went down the court. And we practiced and practiced it the day before.”

“Look at that, practice planning comes in handy,” Panthers coach Kevin Tonn chimed in.

Welch’s shot at the buzzer proved to be a difference maker at the end, as the Panthers walked away with a 52-49 victory in their Class 4A Geneva Regional semifinal game against the Bulldogs.

The seventh-seeded Panthers (16-14) will take on second-seeded Geneva (27-4) in the final at 7 p.m. Friday. The Vikings defeated St. Charles North 61-45, thanks to a 23-point effort from junior Gabe Jensen.

Along with Welch, who finished the game with 10 points and nine rebounds, the Panthers had three other players finish with double-digit points, as Lamari Carpenter (14 points), Oturo Redento (13 points) and Mahari Hatch (10 points) all achieved the feat.

“When we have four guys in double digits, I think we’re hard to guard and a dangerous team,” Tonn said. “The guys are playing well together, playing unselfishly, and playing for each other at this time of the season, which is really great to see.”

While the Panthers spread the ball out to multiple players for scoring, none of their players could find an answer for guarding Abalos in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter, where he had three 3-pointers to keep the Bulldogs within one possession for the final two minutes of the game.

“They’ve got a great player over there in Jax, who made life hard for us,” Tonn said. “A majority of his points, we made them tough for him. But that’s just a testament for how good he is.”

In what proved to be his final game, Abalos, a Cornell commit, finished with a game-high 24 points while also adding 12 rebounds for a double-double.

“He did everything he possibly could out there,” Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. “He rebounded, he scored, he got to the line. It’s why he’s going where he’s going.”

After losing to their regular-season finale to the Panthers 64-36 on Feb. 19, Batavia (13-18) never trailed by double digits against the Panthers and had multiple opportunities to take the lead late in the game. And despite not getting the result he wanted, Nazos said he couldn’t be more proud of the team.

“The team has never quit all year,” Nazos said. “It just got away from us and just kept going. The team did a lot of good though. I just feel bad for our six seniors that are taking off their jersey for the last time that gave a whole lot to this program and the younger guys.”