New Trier tops upstart GBS in double overtime

Heldring's free throws, McCallum's defensive play key win

In sports, it is common to hear a team want to figuratively punch their opponent in the nose to gain momentum and a competitive edge.

New Trier, the No. 2 seed in the Class 4A Niles West Sectional, found that out the hard way against No. 15 seed Glenbrook South Tuesday night in the GBS Regional semifinals.

Led by seniors Alex Rossi (19 points), Fred Heldring (14 points), and J.B. McCallum (11 points), the Trevians edged the Titans 60-55 in double overtime after a hard-fought and well-played game between Central Suburban League South rivals.

With New Trier (21-4) ahead 51-47 in the second overtime, McCallum took a literal, albeit inadvertent, shot to the nose that sent him to the deck with 3 minutes, 3 seconds remaining. He was able to gather himself after a couple seconds on the ground to get up, chase down an offensive rebound, and successfully call a timeout while saving the ball from going out of bounds.

"(Jack) Ryan was trying to post me up and caught me with an elbow," McCallum said. "Fred (Heldring) helped me out and contested his shot. The ball just bounced right to me."

"J.B had his best game of the year," New Trier coach Scott Fricke added about his point guard, who had eight points in the first quarter. "He’s a big-time player. He hits big shots. He’s not an Alex Rossi or a Johnny Hurley, but he’s hit big shots for us. The defensive play at the end where he got his hands on the ball kind of saved us. He’s one of the smarter players we got."

After the saved possession, Heldring buried a pair of free throws to cap the Trevians 6-0 run to start the second overtime. He also hit three free throws with under a minute remaining after Titans senior Alex Garvey (13 points, 4 assists, 3 steals) nailed a three-pointer to cut New Trier’s lead to 56-52.

"I was thinking I’ve got to make these because I didn’t want to go to a third overtime," Heldring said. "I was dying out there. I think a lot of us were. Those were pressure free throws, and J.B. made a couple before that so I thought if he could do it, I could do it."

Glenbrook South (5-21) started the second half on a 10-0 run after trailing 28-23 to start the third quarter. Junior Lucas Rytel scored five of his nine points within the first few minutes of the period. Junior Jack Ryan’s three-pointer gave GBS its biggest lead of the game at 33-28. The Titans maintained a 37-33 lead after three quarters.

Hurley (5 points) got on the board for the first time with a long-range bomb with 5:15 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 39. Rossi and Garvey scored the only buckets for their respective teams after that. With the game tied at 41, Glenbrook South held the ball for the last minute and half of regulation before time expired after its potential game-winning shot was blocked. 

Ryan scored four of his team’s six points in the first overtime, including a jumper in the key to tie the game at 47 with 43 seconds left. He also took a critical charge with 7.6 seconds remaining to give the Titans another chance to win the game.

"We weren’t crisp with the ball tonight," Fricke said. "We were sped up and had a lot of little turnovers. For some reason, we got a little rattled when the score got to what it was. We’re a senior team and we’ve got to be more composed."

Glenbrook South wasn’t able to get a clean look at the basket as the first overtime expired.

"We may have lost track of the time a little bit," Glenbrook South coach Scott Nemecek said. "We tried to get a dribble-drive play off a screen and roll. They switch screens so you might get a big guy on a little guy. There were plenty of opportunities earlier, too, so it wasn’t just one situation."

Trevians sophomore Connor Boehm added nine points and hauled in 13 rebounds.

With the nail-biting win, New Trier advanced to the regional final at 7:30 p.m. Friday against the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal between No. 7 seed Prospect and No. 10 seed Niles North.

"That was a big sigh of relief," Heldring said. "There was a while there where I thought we were going to lose the game. It was great that we had the poise and strength to come back. They kept coming at us and coming at us. We just weathered the storm the whole way through and got it together in the second overtime."

Fricke also is happy to be moving on in the postseason after anticipating a dog fight with the Titans, who lost to New Trier 47-39 and 64-46 during the regular season.

"I knew this was going to be a game like this," Fricke said. "You get paired up against a team you played twice already, beat twice, and then you’ve got to come to their place and play them again. I knew this would be a tough game."

"I give (GBS) a lot of credit. They played great. Every time I thought we were on the verge of expanding the lead, they would hit a big shot. We just couldn’t get away from them. Those kids all season - I’ve seen them play a lot - even though their record wasn’t what they wanted it to be, they kept fighting."

Junior Corey McMahon scored 13 points for the Titans, who only had five turnovers. Ryan finished with 11, and senior Chris Bauer chipped in four points.

"Their effort and energy was wonderful," Nemecek said of his team. "We really believed we could beat New Trier.

"I’m proud of our guys because we put it all out there on the line. Nobody can hang their head. You can’t reflect on any mistakes you made because guys gave it their all. We’re very proud of them. It was the kind of game where you wish nobody had to have their season end tonight"