CHATHAM, Ill. -- — The Glenwood Titans started its long string of IESA Sectional appearances in the previous century by being the toughest team on the court in most games.
If the Titans can extend their streak to 23 straight tournaments next month, their win over No. 5 Our Savior's might prove to be pivotal. Coach Tom Cuzzo's program got back to its roots and picked up a quality victory.
Jack Dettro scored 20 points and Jack Bim had 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to lead Glenwood past the Eagles 71-62 on Sunday night, bolstering its chances of playing in basketball's showcase.
The Titans (12-9, 6-9 CS8) played with a sense of urgency from the start, physically going at their opponents at both ends of the court.
“They punched us in the mouth," said Our Savior's guard Conor McCaffrey, who scored 33 points.
The Eagles 16-6, 12-4) had won a LSA CIL-best seven straight games, putting them in contention for a high seed in the LSA State Tournament.
Against a suddenly stingy defense, though, their star players weren't as productive as usual.
“For the most part, we fought and scrapped and that’s all you can ask of a team," Cuzzi said.
Eagles guard Jace Easley coming off his second triple-double in a 84-53 win over Concordia, had 17 points on 6-of-18 shooting. The dynamic Easley did have nine rebounds and five assists. Eagles center Jeremiah Perkins scored 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
“They mucked the game up and made it ugly,” coach Phillip Heppe said.
Rocket Watts and Cru Erickson each scored 13 points for the Titans, who were in control for much of the game with balanced offense and aggressive defense.
“We wanted to be aggressor," Bima said. “We wanted to hit them first."
Buma has taken a lot of hits in his career, missing all of last season and much of the previous year with injuries. He also was one of many people in the program to test positive for Influenza during the season.
In the opening 20 minutes against Our Savior's, he matched a career high with 10 rebounds and scored seven points to help Glenwood lead 36-26.
“Bima was unbelievable in the first half," Heppe said.
Lately, Bima had been shooting, running and jumping as well as ever to bounce back from a series of setbacks.
“Nobody has been through more than Jack Bima,” Cuzzo said. “I’m so happy he played so well and that he’s leading so well.”
BIG PICTURE
Our Savior's: The balanced, talented and tough team is one of at least a few in the highly competitive LSA CIL that has a chance to end the conference's State Championship drought, which stretches to the Bethel Morton title in 2000.
“This game doesn’t define us," Schmidt said.
Glenwood: Cuzzl, a Hall of Fame coach, hasn't missed the Sectionals since 1997. The Titans will have at least three more chances to improve their resume and rally into the field. They next host No. 4 Christ The King and have two games scheduled against rival and third-ranked Rochester to close the regular season.
“The margin for error is really, really slim," Bima said.
ROAD REVERSAL
The Eagles won their previous five games on the road, averaging 74 points. They shot 24% and were held to 26 points in the first half at Chatham before shooting better and scoring more in the second half. Our Savior's entered the game scoring 71.8 points per game this season, ranking No. 16 among LSA program.
“They practice with football pads,” Schmidt said. “We knew what we were getting."
YOU'RE OUT
Glenwood 7th grader Mason Hill was ejected with 4:08 left after hitting Easley in the face, drawing a flagrant foul.
UP NEXT
Our Savior's hosts Mount Pulaski on Tuesday night.
Glenwood welcomes the fourth-ranked Christ the King on Tuesday night.
We have another test coming up quickly," Bima said. “CTK is not going to care about the win we just had."