With less than 20 seconds left in overtime and trailing Batavia by two points, Glenbard North’s Lamari Carpenter had a decision to make after taking a pass in the paint from teammate Caeden Chilton.

Should the junior drive the lane for a game-tying layup or kick the ball out to Matt Welch in the left corner for a go-ahead 3-pointer?

Carpenter opted to pass to Welch, who sank his third trey of the game to put his squad ahead for good.

Making Glenbard North’s only free throw of the DuKane Conference opener Friday, Carpenter scored the final point in the Panthers’ 49-47 win.

“Lamari made the right decision, and it turned out well for us,” Glenbard North coach Kevin Tonn said.

“I was thinking that Lamari was going to take the layup, he had a lane, but he saw my guy helped off so he kicked it to me, and I shot it just like we do in practice every day,” Welch said.

With 50.3 seconds left in OT, reserve Evan Blankenship made Batavia’s second clutch 3-pointer of the night from the top of the key to put the host Bulldogs back in front for the second time in the extra session. Coming off the bench, the senior scored 13 points. After the bucket, Glenbard North called timeout to set up the go-ahead play.

With four seconds left in regulation, Joseph Reid delivered the Bulldogs’ first key 3-pointer of the game, nailing a trey from the left corner to tie the contest at 41 and force the overtime period. Reid scored a team-high 17 points including five 3-pointers.

Trailing Batavia 32-26 after three periods, Glenbard North (3-1, 1-0) solved Batavia’s defense to work the ball inside to start the final frame on an 11-0 run for a 37-32 advantage with 3:10 left to play.

“I thought a big turning point was when Caeden had a nice offensive rebound putback and then we had a free throw rebound too,” said Tonn. “And that shifted the tide a little bit.”

Dane Farrar ended the Bulldogs’ fourth quarter scoring drought at the 2:43 mark with a 3-pointer from the right wing. The junior pulled Batavia (1-3, 0-1) within 39-38 with another trey from the top of the key with 91 ticks left on the clock. In addition to his nine points, Farrar pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked two shots.

After a Redento putback at the 1:19 left in regulation, Batavia went in a stall that ended with Reid’s game-tying trey.

“It was a tough loss. Glenbard North did some good things there at the end,” Batavia coach Jim Nazos said. “I thought we did some good things, too. We hung in there and came back. We just were never able to get that timely stop.”

The two teams traded the lead in the first half. Glenbard North was in front 12-8 after the first quarter. The first half ended with Batavia on top, 22-21.

Welch led Glenbard North’s scoring with 17 points, and Carpenter and Redento both chipped in 10 points. Redento also grabbed 12 boards.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251205/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-welch-nails-late-3-in-overtime-lifts-glenbard-north-over-batavia/