Sports
BOYS BASKETBALL: Plenty of Questions for Titans to Answer After Slow Start
Glenbrook South is 1-4 in its first five games after losing another close game to Grayslake Central.
There was no hesitation from h coach Scott Nemecek when asked about his team’s continued fourth-quarter shortcomings. Even in early-season, non-conference matchups, Nemecek was frustrated at the Titans’ inability to close out games.
“Absolutely it bothers me,” Nemecek said. “It just shows that we’re not quite there yet and we have to find the answers somewhere, whether it be in personnel or it’s just practicing better or coaching and drawing things up better.”
Glenbrook South lost another close game on Wednesday night, falling 56-53 to Grayslake Central at home. The Titans led 51-50 with less than two minutes to play, but the Rams rallied to steal one on the road.
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At 1-4 there are questions on both sides of the court for Glenbrook South. At times, the Titans’ defense gave the Rams trouble. Glenbrook South held Grayslake Central to 18 points in the first half and forced 11 turnovers before halftime. They had eight steals in the game and the defense was a big reason why the Titans held a 25-18 advantage after 16 minutes.
The second half read a different story as the Rams scored 38 points after intermission. Grayslake Central point guard Jordan Taylor scored 26 points for the Rams and the Titans had trouble keeping him out of the lane all game.
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“We were a step behind; we thrive on pressure and we obviously didn’t pressure them well enough,” Nemecek said. “We were late to rotate and we’re a fast, small team.”
Offensively, Glenbrook South was able to get out in transition for easy buckets in the first half. The Titans often got good shots in their half-court offense, but couldn’t finish at the rim. Justin Busiel was only 4-for-17 from the field, but still managed 13 points.
Lucky for Nemecek and the Titans, high school basketball isn’t like football. A poor start won’t cripple the Titans’ season and affect their hopes of making a run in the postseason. Glenbrook South still has one more non-conference game against Maine West on Saturday before hosting Waukegan on Tuesday in its first CSL South matchup. And with the start of conference play comes more chances for the Titans to get to where they want to be before March.
“At this point we appear that we’re not ready yet to take that next step,” Nemecek said. “But I think we’re going to, I think we’ll get there.”
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