Trevians hand surging Titans their first loss
It’s still early in the season, but some storylines already have emerged. A major one surfaced in Glenview, where Glenbrook South started the season undefeated and worked its way up to No. 15 in the Super 25.
The Titans don’t have any superstar college recruits and weren’t a factor for most of the past decade. That changed over the first few weeks of the season.
It turns out New Trier was not enjoying the newfound success of its Central Suburban League South rivals.
“We were really excited for this game because of how much hype they were getting,” Trevians senior Ciaran Brayboy said. “We just wanted to kind of end that. We came out really strong tonight to take them out.”
New Trier did just that, knocking off Glenbrook South 47-42 in front of a large crowd in Glenview.
Senior Noah Osher, who scored 10 points, clinched the win with two free throws in the final few seconds.
“I’ve shot 10 trillion of them, so once you get to the line in a situation like that it is automatic, just all muscle memory,” Osher said. “You can’t be emotional, you can’t pay attention to the crowd. You have to shoot how you practice, and that is what I did.”
The Trevians (7-1, 3-0) held the Titans (8-1, 2-1) without a field goal for an eight-minute stretch in the second and third quarter. New Trier opened the second half with a 12-0 run to take control.
“We had one day of prep [New Trier played on Monday], and they are a big prep team,” Trevians coach Scott Fricke said. “These guys really focused the last 24 hours. It was about knowing how to guard them. We did a good job until those last three minutes.”
Glenbrook South junior Dom Martinelli, a 6-4 post player, has been a dominant offensive force this season. He scored all the points in a 10-0 Titans run that cut New Trier’s lead to 42-40 with 1:32 to play.
Brayboy, a Harvard recruit, made a huge three-point play on a dunk and free throw to help preserve the lead with 1:11 to play.
Martinelli finished with 24 points and five rebounds. No other Glenbrook South player scored more than five points.
Brayboy and 6-8 senior Spencer Boehm are the Trevians’ wellknown difference makers. Brayboy had 12 points and six rebounds. Boehm, who is sick but managed to gut it out and play every minute of the game, added four points and five boards.
Senior Sam Silverstein had 11 points and five rebounds. He’s having a breakout season and could be the key to New Trier’s success.
“Silverstein has a high ceiling, and he is starting to get Division I looks,” Fricke said. “Obviously there are a lot of D-III schools that would love him. He’s great. He was our sixth man last year.”
“We have a lot of weapons, but down the stretch, they look to me to kind of control the game and make the right play,” Silverstein said.
Silverstein is 6-5 and can hit a three-pointer or drive to the basket for a dunk. That athleticism on the perimeter is a huge factor for the Trevians.
“Since I was about eight, I always wanted to dunk,” Silverstein said. “I didn’t grow until junior year, but I was always jumping. Every year I got a couple inches higher.”