Glenbard East coach Eric Kelly knows what it’s like to start from the bottom. So do seniors Michael Nee and Danny Snyder, who were varsity freshmen on Kelly’s first team that won nine games.
Three years later, the Rams are celebrating their second straight Class 4A regional championship. They got to cut down the net after a 61-40 win over Lake Park on Friday in Lombard.
The Rams will continue their season in the Bartlett Sectional semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Wheaton Warrenville South, which won the Willowbrook Regional title game over Batavia on Friday.
“We don’t take this for granted considering where we were,” Kelly said. “But this is not the end goal. We want five more wins. That gives us our last win (at the state championship) in Champaign in a couple weeks.”
Nee scored the game’s first five points, setting Glenbard East (29-3) up to be in control most of the way. Helping was a second quarter in which it held a 20-8 scoring advantage over Lake Park (15-17) and shut out everyone except for Freddy Battaglia, who scored six of his eight points in the period on free throws.
Luca Stella kept the Lancers in it with eight of their 12 points in the third, which accounted for all of his scoring and cut the deficit to 47-34.
Lake Park had opportunities to get closer in the fourth but struggled from the field. That allowed Nee to ice the game at the free-throw line with six of his eight points in the quarter from there.
Kelly pulled his starters with one minute left, allowing them to receive appreciation from the home crowd.
“I got so many memories here,” Nee said, “and I’ve been playing on this court for my last four years. So it’s gonna be a hard goodbye, but I’m glad we ended like this.”
Nee finished with a game-high 18 points, Snyder scored 12, and Jacob Marynowski added 11.
Sam Walton and Norman Loechel had eight points apiece, with Walton also grabbing a game-high eight rebounds and recording three steals.
Keenan House led everyone with seven assists and stole the ball three times.
Battaglia led the Lancers with 17 points and tied for the team leads in rebounds with Maximillian Alvarado (five) and assists with Christian Burge (three).
Alvarado scored eight points and matched Jaxon Acoloste’s team-high steals total with three.
“Just a lot of heart from the kids,” said Lake Park coach Adam Pischke. “They bought into the game plan and everything that we were trying to do, and it’s basketball. At the end of the day, if you don’t make shots, it’s going to be hard to win.
“But I thought defensively we were locked in for the most part. Just some loose balls and plays that didn’t go our way, but all in all, I’m really proud of the fight of the guys.”
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260227/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-glenbard-east-has-reason-to-celebrate-while-looking-for-more/