Boys Basketball: Second half gets away from Glenbrook South
BY MIKE BUDA Contributor January 31, 2012 5:14PM
Glenview, 01/27/12 Glenbrook South's Justin Busiel grabs the defensive rebound during their game against New Trier at Glenbrook South Jan. 27. | Curtis Lehmkuhl~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:06AM
Glenbrook South may have lost a chip on its shoulder when Matt Powers went down with an injury at the beginning of January, and will be without him for the rest of the season.
But the Titans are still swinging the lumber.
While out-rebounding No. 6 New Trier Friday, GBS (5-14, 1-6 CSL) watched the Trevians pull away in the second half for a 60-54 win in Glenview Friday night.
Make no mistake — the Titans miss Powers.
“There’s a certain attitude that Matt has,” said GBS head coach Scott Nemecek. “It’s a hard-nosed attitude, and it’s a commitment to outworking the other team, but we have a team that works really hard. It hurts to lose Matt, but we have some capable people behind him.”
Since Powers broke his left wrist during GBS’s 58-51 loss to GBN, the Titans have gone 2-3, dropping its last three games heading into Tuesday’s scheduled nonconference game with Schaumburg.
The injury has forced others to step up, including Trey Dahiya.
“He’s doing the things he needs to do,” said senior guard Jamie Nikitas. “He doesn’t need to be a star, and he knows that. He grabs rebounds, plays solid defense and he doesn’t turn the ball over. So he’s playing well.”
Dahiya and Victor Levi have helped fill the hole in the lineup, but Nikitas relishes his role as the Titans’ go-to player.
“He’s always felt like he should be the best player on the floor, and he tries to act like it,” Nemecek said. “He accepts that burden, and he does a nice job. Our guys have really improved a lot as this season has worn on.”
The Titans’ leading scorer continues to do his job, and has found help in junior guard Justin Busiel.
“Justin has stepped up and has taken some of the scoring load off, so that’s been huge,” Nikitas said. “I’m just trying to do the things I do — like handle the ball, play solid defense and run the team as best as I can.”
The Trevians held on to a narrow 32-30 lead at the half, with senior center Connor Boehm contributing 11 points.
“I thought we started the game poorly with our turnovers, but we hung right there,” Nemecek said. “We got some stops, we got first rebounds and to be down two at the half, I thought that was pretty decent. Our guys were very fired up. We didn’t do a well enough job in the third quarter.”
New Trier exited the first quarter with a 16-12 advantage, but the Titans exploded in the second period. GBS reeled off 12 unanswered points for a 24-18 lead, with big buckets coming from Nikitas and Justin Busiel.
Down six points, the Trevians went back to Boehm, who helped his team pull ahead with a few minutes remaining in the first half.
The Titans’ difficulties in the third quarter continued, and that’s where the game was won by New Trier.
“We’ve had a lot of slow starts in the second half this season and we’re still trying to figure that out,” Nikitas said. “We came out a little sluggish, they pulled away a little bit and it was tough to fight back — especially against a team like that, who is really disciplined.”
Junior guard Steven Cook proved to be the difference, scoring nine points in the quarter to give his team a 48-38 lead with a quarter remaining.
GBS could only cut the deficit to four in the final period, and with an extra effort from guards Reid Berman and Jordan Thomas, the Trevians held on for the victory.
Senior forward Levi led the charge for the Titans, scoring 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Busiel scored a game-high 17 points. Levi contributed 13 points and seven rebounds, and Nikitas contributed 12 points.
“All year, we feel like we haven’t been playing up to our caliber, so we wanted to come out and play hard,” Nikitas said. “For the seniors, this was going to be the last time we play this team on our home floor. We were ready to play, we were aggressive and we had a good start, but there were just a few possessions that made the difference.”
Boehm led New Trier with 16 points, and grabbed eight rebounds. Cook dropped in 15 points, and added another eight boards for New Trier.
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