Glenbard North is buzzing again
The first two weeks of the state basketball tournament were rather ho-hum overall.
Then came Friday night. There were eight one-possession games throughout the state, including three buzzer-beaters in Class 4A alone.
Here are some other observations from the sectional round:
Glenbard North is Cinderella
The 2024 sectional championship will live in Glenbard North basketball lore forever.
First, it’s just the third sectional championship in program history. But the legend of the 2024 title will be more about how the Panthers did it.
Down two in the closing seconds of both sectional games, Glenbard North buried buzzer-beating threepointers to win both.
JJ Hernandez’s desperation three stunned top-seeded Lake Park 37-36 in the sectional semifinal. Then Jack Schager’s buzzerbeater downed York 44-43 in the final.
Coach Kevin Tonn’s Panthers were 0-3 against their two sectional opponents in the regular season, losing twice to Lake Park and falling to York 58-43 a month ago.
Here’s one more ridiculous nugget: Glenbard North won both games without its most productive player.
Jalen Crues was lost with a broken wrist in the regional semifinal. He’s an athletic 6-7 senior who regularly provides double-doubles, averaging 14.9 points and seven rebounds per game. In the regularseason loss to York, Crues, an allconference player, scored 21 of the Panthers’ 43 points.
Just four years ago, Glenbard North was coming off a two-year stretch when it went a combined 3-46. The 2014 sectional championship team also won tight games and became a Cinderella story. The scores of the four Glenbard North postseason wins that year were 5148, 48-44, 77-74 and 84-81.
The Panthers finally lost in the supersectional to Benet — in another tight one — 62-59.
This ride continues with a supersectional date with New Trier on Monday night at NOW Arena in Hoffman States.
Sectional droughts end
It has been a long time coming for Palatine and Crystal Lake South basketball. Both ended significant sectional championship droughts. Palatine won backto-back sectionals in 1981 and ’82. Crystal Lake South last won a sectional in 1983.
Both Palatine and Crystal Lake South, who have broken their school record for wins, are seeking their first trip to the IHSA state finals.
Palatine lost a pair of supersectional heartbreakers in the early 1980s, losing to Antioch 35-34 in 1981 and to St. Joseph 52-50 in overtime in 1982. Crystal Lake South’s lone supersectional appearance ended with a 71-64 loss to Elgin in 1983.
Beecher still unbeaten
Beecher has been quite a story. Before this season, Beecher had won one regional championship in school history (2007) and had never won a sectional game.
Now it’s on the precipice of a Hallmark ending to a remarkable season.
Beecher, a town of 4,690 people located 30 minutes south of more familiar basketball powers Thornton and Homewood-Flossmoor, is a perfect 35-0. The Bobcats took care of Fieldcrest to win a Class 2A sectional championship.
Beecher, led by Orlin Nesbitt, Adyn McGinley, Zack Johnson, Ethan Rydberg and Jack Hayhurst, have done it with balance. Different players have stepped up in different games all season long, including the recent postseason ride.
Now Beecher faces Phillips in the Joliet Central Supersectional.
It has taken nearly 50 years, but Phillips is back in a supersectional, with electric guard EJ Horton (24 points per game) and Amari Edwards leading the charge.
The Wildcats played Quincy, Simeon, Kenwood and Peoria Richwoods tough in close losses, and they’ve beaten Hyde Park, Lincoln Park and Lindblom.
After a regular season in which Phillips (22-9) finished fourth in the tough Public League Red South Central, the Wildcats have dominated in 2A.