Maine South's lob play a nightmare for Glenbrook North

Hawks tune up for playoffs with solid win

The Glenbrook North boys basketball team had a recurring nightmare Tuesday in Northbrook.

A particular lob play run by Maine South led to a basket or free throws seven times during the game and gave the Hawks the upper hand in a tight 52-49 Central Suburban League crossover victory. 

“It’s a play we’ve been running all season,” Maine South coach Tony Lavorato said. “If we meet again, they’ll be prepared for it. But it was definitely something that we saw.”

“It’s two very good teams. It meant they execute their sets and got wide open shots. We executed our sets and got wide open shots. We were just able to make three more points tonight.”

Maine South senior P.J. Killean (9 points, 6 rebounds) gave the Hawks (24-5) the lead for good at 37-36 after drilling a three-pointer with 1 minute, 13 seconds left in the third quarter.

Putting the Spartans away was no easy task, however. The furthest Maine South could get from Glenbrook North (22-5) was 47-42 after a pair of senior Pat Maher (13 points, 4 assists) free throws with 2:59 remaining.

After Spartans junior Tommy Hanrahan (9 points) nailed his third three-pointer, Killean got loose on a press-break and scored an open layup with 47 seconds remaining to extend the Hawks’ lead to 49-45. Glenbrook North senior Alex Dragicevich (22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks) responded with a trey with 31 seconds left.

Each team split a pair of free throws before Maine South junior Matt Palucki (11 points, 7 rebounds) sank two free throws with 10.3 seconds left to give the Hawks a 52-49 lead. The Spartans missed a contested three-point attempt as time expired. 

“I think we’re playing great together,” Killean said. “We’ve all been together for two or three years, so we have a great chemistry. It’s a good win going into the playoffs.”

With the game tied at 24 after halftime, Glenbrook North built  a five-point lead with 2:26 left in the third quarter on senior Austin Weber’s four-point play. Unfortunately for the Spartans, they fell in love with shots behind the arc. 

“We started off the second half poorly,” Glenbrook North coach Dave Weber said. “We took bad shots early. We had a five-point lead and we took some bad shots in that stretch. They’re a good team and you can’t give them opportunities. We got a little overconfident in our shot selection during that stretch, and that got them right back in the game.”

Also contributing to Maine South’s quick comeback was a lob play to Palucki down low that led to a layup and a free throw toward the end of the quarter. 

“We couldn’t stop their lob play,” Weber said. “There was nothing we could do. It was the same play over and over again. There was no answer for it. We knew what it was, but we got in such bad foul trouble that it killed us.”

Maher, the orchestrator of the Hawks’ offense, was the one recognizing the defense and delivering a perfect lob pass from the top of the key to under the basket to Palucki.

“It seemed like they were switching down low,” Maher said. “There would be a smaller guy on him, and we’d throw it over the top, and he’d go get it. It was all him.”

Seniors Justin Wasik and Justin Tworek each added seven points for Maine South.

With the regular season over, both coaches know what to expect as the playoffs approach. 

“Our biggest challenge is to play our best basketball toward the end of the year,” Lavorato said. “We can’t be content. It’s a nice win that we’ll enjoy tonight. But tomorrow we’ll be at 0-0. That’s how we’ve got to look at the postseason.”

For the Spartans, who clinched a share of the CSL North title Friday after defeating Deerfield 54-34, it will be fixing a familiar problem. 

“We’re in a good position,” Weber said. “We know what hurts us, but we can’t change it. In our five losses, it’s been the same thing every time. We just don’t get good ball movement in stretches in the game.”

Weber finished with 12 points and two steals. Junior Peter Szostak scored four after battling foul trouble the entire game for Glenbrook North.