New Trier ends Glenbard North’s Cinderella run
Midnight came early for Cinderella on Monday at NOW Arena.
And New Trier didn’t mind playing the villain in their quest to top last season’s Class 4A state third-place finish.
Glenbard North’s stunning run to the Class 4A Hoffman Estates supersectional has certainly been sprinkled with an abundance of fairy dusk.
New Trier withstood two big runs by Glenbard North before putting together a sizzling shooting effort in the third quarter to roll to a 65-41 victory.
The Trevians (28-7) advance to Friday’s 3:45 p.m. state semifinal to face Homewood-Flossmoore at the State Farm Center in Champaign. New Trier sophomore point guard Christopher Kirkpatrick sparked his team with a game-high 22 points on 4-of-6 shooting on 3-pointers. Glenbard North senior J.J. Hernandez closed out his prolific career with a team-best 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and a pair of highlight-reel two-handed dunks. Junior guard Jack Schager added 9 points, hitting 2 three-pointers and netting 2 steals.
The Panthers (22-12) watched their dreams of reaching the state tournament for the first time since 2001-02 vanish in the third quarter.
“We tried to flip the switch, but we didn’t get the outcome we wanted,” Hernandez said. “We still fought hard and I’m glad we ended the season the way we did. I think we were tired. New Trier is a good team. They just were executing their stuff.”
Behind the hot-shooting and penetration of Kirkpatrick, along with Ian Brown filling up the basket from beyond the arc, the Trevians’ offense spread the floor, opening up the middle for drives and putbacks. The Trevians pulled away in the final six minutes of the third thanks to near perfect execution on the offensive end, scoring on nine of their final 10 possessions of the quarter to turn a 34-31 advantage into a 56-33 lead.
Conversely, the Panthers’ offense went into a funk immediately after Schager’s three trimmed the deficit to 34-31, closing out the quarter with nine scoreless trips in their last 11 possessions.
The Panthers entered the season not ranked in any polls, winning just 15 games in each of the last two seasons.
From 2014-2020, the Panthers’ program was stuck in basketball purgatory, posting a 33-135 mark which included an 0-26 season.
The Panthers had the most losses of any supersectional team in 3A or 4A, plus they were missing arguably their top player, Jalen Crues, who broke his wrist in the regional semifinals.
Even more astounding, the Panthers started two sophomores and a junior in their backcourt.
“I just want to thank all the underclassmen for making my senior season special,” Hernandez said. “I would never have thought we would have made it to the supersectional this year. It’s an achievement for all of us. Those playoffs wins were unbelievable.”
But the Panthers’ defied odds via two buzzer-beater victories in their last two playoff games, with Hernandez sinking a game-winner overtime shot and Schager with a game-winning 3-pointer in the sectional final win over York on Friday.
Glenbard North coach Kevin Tonn, a Wheaton North graduate who was hired in 2021, turned around the program to make them one of best stories in the state this season.
“This run meant a lot to our program,” Tonn said. “The senior group made a huge impact. I couldn’t be prouder of our seniors and our team. New Trier is a great team. They shot the ball well. We ran out of gas toward the end. The seniors showed our younger guys the way. We got some good returnees, so we’re excited about the future.”
The 6-foot-7 Hernandez, who came into the supersectional averaging 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.1 steals per game, sparked a second-quarter comeback with his aggressive defense and attacks on the basket and board.
The Trevians started booking their return trip to Champaign in the first quarter, buoyed by a flood of turnovers by the Panthers — five consecutive to end the quarter — and back-to-back rainbow 3-pointer by Kirkpatrick for a 21-7 lead. Kirkpatrick, who sank a buzzer-beater in the sectionals, was a thorn all game for the Panthers.
But the Panthers showed their playoff toughness by mounting two comebacks before wilting in the third quarter.
Schager, who’s averaging 7.8 points and 1.6 steals while shooting 49.6% on 3s, was another catalyst. He buried a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the second quarter to trim the deficit to 34-26.
Less than two minutes into the third, the sharpshooter struck again, draining a 3 to carve the deficit to 34-31. But the Trevians quickly answered with their own showers of threes, as Brown knocked down a pair of 3s to push the lead back to 42-31.
“We were down the whole game and tried to fight back, so those (early) threes were big trying to get our momentum going,” Schager said. “It helped us keep going and going. It felt good to make those threes, to get the team behind you.”
The Panthers should be back in the mix for another state run next season, but will miss the leadership and high-scoring exploits of Hernandez and Crues, who averaged 14.9 points and 7.0 rebounds in his lone season in the program.
“We turned the ball over a lot, and they took advantage of it,” Schager said. “They’re a very well-coached and disciplined team and executed perfectly. It’s tough to beat a team when you turn the ball over. We’re really excited, he said. “We have a lot of talent on our team. The seniors taught us a lot. We will miss them.”
New Trier, which has three starters back from last season, cruised into the fourth quarter to seal their downstate trip.
“We got to an early lead but we knew they would make a run,” Brown said. “We had that big run in the third quarter. Whenever we would drive to the basket, they would show two guys at us and would kick it out for a three.”
Fitzpatrick, a late season callup last season, played like a veteran under the lights, hitting several backbreaking 3s plus adding a memorable Eurostep layup.
“We know we’re probably one of the best, if not the best, shooting teams in the state,” Fitzpatrick said. “We had a lot of people stepping up tonight hitting big shots. I’m excited to go dancing downstate in Champaign.”