Glenn pulls off NIC comeback victory
NORTH LIBERTY — Just another typical night in the Northern Indiana Conference. You cannot let the records mislead you, because every team is tough and no game can be taken for granted.
Glenn came in to its NIC opener at home against South Bend Clay Tuesday night undefeated while the Colonials were 1-7 overall and already 0-2 in conference.
“They don’t play a cupcake schedule,” said Glenn head coach Travis Hannah.
No they don’t. In fact, of those Clay losses, two were in overtime and the other five were to teams with a combined record of 35-5. So when the Colonials paid a visit to Glenn’s home- away- from- home, North Liberty Elementary School’s gym, they gave the Falcons all they could handle before Glenn rallied for the 66-60 win.
A 15-2 first quarter run by Clay, including three 3s, was punctuated by a fourth trey at the buzzer as the visitors took a 22-12 lead into the second period. The Colonials press was giving Glenn fits while every shot seemed to drop for Clay.
“I thought we’d do a better job on defense staying front of them and forcing them into more difficult shots than what they were getting,” Hannah said of his team’s humble beginning. “We weren’t very good in the first half and they were very good.”
Glenn cut the lead to four with 1:35 before halftime but by the intermission the difference was back up to eight at 34-26.
The Clay lead ballooned to 13 midway through the third quarter when Glenn’s defense, led by Silas Kaser, picked up dramatically, the press break starting working better and a 13-0 spurt to end the frame pulled the Falcons even at 48 heading to the final period.
Brycen Hannah scored nine of his game-high 25 points in the quarter and Kaser six of his 13 while pestering the Clay guards.
“( Silas) is one of the best point guards in the area,” Hannah continued. “(Clay’s Robert) Allen is a great player, but I thought it was a little too easy for him in the first half, pushing Silas around a bit, so we challenged him at halftime and I thought he responded well in the third quarter. He’s our energy guy. We get some transition buckets off his defense and it picks us up offensively.”
The game was tied again at 50 before another 8-0 run by Glenn finally put the Falcons in charge. Hannah had seven more points in the last stanza and the team went 12-of-16 from the foul line led by Carter Yung’s 4-for-4 effort over the last eight minutes to keep Clay at bay.
“We adjusted in the second half and tried to take away the gaps and the penetration a little bit more and that made it more difficult for them to find shots,” Hannah said of the improvements. “We tried to move their press back so they’d pick up at half court instead of three-quarters. I thought we adjusted well.
“We spend a lot of time in practice on free throws, creating different scenarios.
It’s nice to see it paying off. Kids are more confident at the line.”
Carter Yung was the third Glenn player in double figures with 13 (6-6 FTS). Allen led Clay with 22 points and backcourt mate Christian Love added 15.
“They are so quick,” Hannah said of the Colonials. “You play against the athletes in the NIC, I don’t care how talented you are at John Glenn, that team is going to be in the game because of their athleticism. If you catch them on a night when they’re making shots - like Clay was in the first half - you’re going to be in for a fight.
“We’ve got guys that can put the ball in the basket. Carter didn’t get as many buckets as usual, but when they get out on him it opens it up for Brycen inside. I thought he had a nice game. We were a little bit bigger than them in the post and we took advantage of it. We’re trying to find creative ways to get Brycen involved.”
Glenn’s next game is another NIC affair as it travels to New Prairie on Thursday.
• GLENN 66, SB CLAY 60
At North Liberty SB Clay 22 34 48 60 Glenn 12 26 48 66 SB CLAY: Robert Allen 8 3-6 22, Nick Wade 0 0-0 0, Christian Love 5 4-4 14, Anttwon Gregory 0 0-0 0, Ameer Hicks 0 0-0 0, Kylan Perry 2 0-1 4, Latwon Smith 1 0-2 3, Johnny Watson 4 0-0 9, Davyaun Franklin 3 1-3 7, Jeffrey Davis 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 8-16 60. GLENN: Silas Kaser 5 3-6 13, Carter Yung 3 6-6 12, Joe Delinski 2 2-2 6, Brycen Hannah 9 7-10 25, Noah Dreibelbeis 0 0-0 0, Jake Taylor 1 0-0 2, Jake Frankiewicz 3 0-2 8. TOTALS: 23 18-26 66. 3-pointers: Glenn 2 (Frankiewicz), SB Clay 6 (Allen 3, Love, Smith, Watson). Fouls (fouled out): Glenn 14 (none), SB Clay 22 (Love).
Records: Glenn 6-0 (1-0 NIC), SB Clay 1-8 (0-3 NIC).
JV score: SB Clay 59, Glenn 56