Glenbard North 64, Waubonsie Valley 59
By Drake Skleba
Glenbard North (5-3) led this opening-day finale 54-38 after three quarters against host Waubonsie Valley.
Led by senior F Reggie Davis (21 points, five rebounds) and senior G James Fleming (18 points, four rebounds) the Panthers appeared headed to an opening-day win.
The hosts thought otherwise.
Waubonsie Valley mounted a furious fourth-quarter rally led by the long-range bombing of 6-foot-3 senior G Ryan Lippmamn (10 points) and sharp-shooting senior G Tyler Perkins (18 points).
Perkins hit a jumper with 0:54 left to bring the Warriors to within 59-53. Glenbard North turned the ball over and Waubonsie Valley responded with a clutch baseline jumper from 6-foot-7 junior Tyler Edmondson (seven points, nine rebounds).
Edmondson added another free throw to bring Waubonsie Valley within 59-56 with 0:22 left.
North's Fleming was fouled with 0:20 left and nailed both free throws for a 61-56 Panther lead.
"We feel good with James having the ball at the end of close games," said Glenbard North head coach Joe Larson. "I knew he would make the big free throws. Reggie Davis is a quality player nobody knows about.He had a great game."
Waubonsie's Lippman responded with a trey from the corner to bring the Warriors within two at 61-59 with 0:11 left.
Fleming was fouled again and the super-cool senior nailed both shots to put this one in the bank for Glenbard North.
"It was a little scary out there,"said Fleming. "Waubonsie started nailing their shots and got back into the game. I missed a couple of 1-and-1's earlier in the quarter, so I had to nail the free throws late."
Davis came out on fire early with 10 first quarter points that gave the Panthers a 20-17 lead. Fleming picked it up with eight second-quarter points which led to a
35-28 halftime Panther lead.
"This was a team win," said Davis. "I had a good game but I owe it all to my teammates."
Senior G Mike Carev (11 points) added four third-quarter buckets to give the Panthers a seemingly insurmountable lead.
Waubonsie Valley (2-8) got 11 points from senior Alex Edmondson. Six-foot-4 Mark Szot had nine points and nine rebounds.
