BARTLETT β The standing room-only gym rose to its collective feet in a rousing ovation.
With 3:54 remaining in Glenbard Westβs ultimate 68-41 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South in the Class 4A Bartlett Sectional final, both sets of starters exited the floor.
Glenbard West, a 34-1, juggernaut, soon lifted its first sectional title plaque since 2007.
[ Photos: Glenbard West vs Wheaton Warrenville South, Class 4A Bartlett Sectional final ]
βWeβre just really thankful for the whole town coming together,β Hilltoppers senior forward Ryan Renfro said. βAfter the game, we had so many people giving us high fives [and] photos. It just means so much because we were once a fan, so itβs just cool to see all of them coming helping us out for sure.β
Gonzaga recruit Braden Huff finished with 19 points, while Renfro had 8 points and five rebounds. Princeton commit Caden Pierce added 10 points for the Hilltoppers.
βItβs for sure an awesome accomplishment,β Huff said. ββ¦just being able to create that history and that legacy is a really cool accomplishment for us. We definitely want to achieve higher goals than just to make it there and we want to ultimately win state; win the whole thing but weβre really excited with where weβre at right now. Itβs a fun group of guys to play with and weβre going to soak in every second together.β
Tigers senior guard Danny Healy, on the other side, fought back tears exiting the court. WW South (32-3), like Glenbard West, had a historic season. It culminated in the programβs first sectional final since 1981.
βItβs hard to think that this is the end,β Healy said. βI wasnβt fighting for a supersectional. I wasnβt fighting for a state championship. I was fighting for practice tomorrow with my guys [and] sharing doughnuts after practice. Itβs rough, but I love my guys. No one Iβd rather do it with and [if] thatβs how weβre supposed to go out, thatβs how weβre supposed to go out. Fight and claw, give it everything we got.β
Glenbard West forced nine Tigers turnoversβ in the first quarter to take a 30-17 halftime lead. A 16-3 Hilltoppersβ run to open the third quarter broke the game wide open.
In the fourth quarter, Tigers forward Tyler Fawcett (10 points) and Hilltoppers guard Paxton Warden (15 points) traded threes, but Huff soon connected on a layup and Renfro slammed home a dunk to put the exclamation point on things.
Glenbard West next faces Larkin in a 7:30 p.m. supersectional Monday at Northern Illinois University. Glenbard West won their regular season meeting against the Royals 64-43 on Jan. 12.
β[Larkin is] way better [now] than they [were] when we played them,β Hilltoppers coach Jason Opoka said. βTheyβre going to have a different approach. Theyβre going to have a different game plan in general, and weβre on a college court, so that changes also. We have to evaluate, start tonight and tomorrow morning in our preparation how we can we effectively control and how weβre going to handle ourselves.β
The Tigers were paced by Rourke Robinsonβs 12 points, while Healy had six points.
βWe knew it was going to be a herculean effort, but I loved that our kids kept playing,β Tigers coach Mike Healy said. βI loved that they just didnβt go down without swinging. Thatβs who they are and what theyβre about. Theyβve given our staff, our school community and our community something that weβve never seen in our school before. Thatβs a tribute to the way they play and theyβre so unselfish. They love each other. Iβf Iβm going down, Iβm going down with these guys so Iβll take them any day of the week.β