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hplandmark.com sports
the highland park landmark | February 14, 2019 | 33
Boys Basketball
Chilly night from the floor dooms Giants
Gary Larsen
Freelance Reporter
There was a frigid cold
front outside of Highland
Park High School’s gym
when the Giants hosted
Glenbrook North on Friday,
Feb. 8, and the weather
was no better inside the
gym for the Giants, where
Glenbrook North’s Ben Silver
was a one-man storm.
Silver rained down six
3-pointers upon Highland
Park to lead all scorers
with 18 points, in a 48-32
Glenbrook North win in
Central Suburban League
North play.
The Giants employed a
defensive scheme aimed
at making someone other
than Glenbrook North’s
Brian Johnson and Alex
Press beat them.
Silver obliged.
“Glenbrook North’s a
great team and they forced
us to play kind of a gimmick
defense,” Highland
Park coach Paul Harris
said. “That opened things
up and you have to give
[Silver] credit for hitting
some really big shots.”
Silver hit five of his six
threes in the second half.
The Giants only trailed
by nine points after three
quarters of play, but Silver
buried three treys in the
fourth to help the Spartans
pull away to victory.
Glenbrook North (15-
10, 8-1) won 51-19 over
Highland Park (10-13,
4-5) in the teams’ first CSL
North meeting on Dec.
21. The rematch was tied
11-11 after a quarter but
Glenbrook North went on
a 10-0 scoring run to start
the second quarter, and led
21-13 at halftime.
The Spartans posted a
12-11 scoring edge in the
third quarter against a Giants
team that has bounced
back well from adversity
all season.
“We’ve grown so much
as a team. We’re more connected
and we’re playing
with more poise,” Giants
senior Andrew Natinsky
said. “Tonight, I couldn’t
finish my shots, Cole
[Beermann] wasn’t hitting
his shots — it was just one
of those nights.”
A Siegien three-point
play and a Silver threepointer
put Glenbrook
North up 38-24 to start the
fourth quarter.
Another Siegien basket
and another Silver three
capped another 10-point
scoring run that put North
up 43-24.
Silver buried one more
three for good measure,
putting North up by 20
points in the game’s waning
minutes.
Glenbrook North
clinched a share of the CSL
North crown with the win.
A win in their final conference
game against Maine
West on Feb. 15 would
give the Spartans the outright
conference title.
“It’s been a great year
in the conference but we
can still get better,” Weber
said. “And if Ben Silver
can shoot like that down
the stretch, this is a tough
team. But I don’t know if
he’ll ever be open like that
again.”
The Giants played without
injured point guard
Zach Fagenholz. Val
Oplchenski led Highland
Park with 7 points, while
Beermann and Isaac Griswold
scored 6 apiece, and
Natinsky netted 5.
“I thought we played
great and just didn’t shoot
the ball real well in the
second half,” Harris said.
“I thought Isaac Griswold
played a great game, Andrew
and Cole continue
to give us consistent play,
and Andrew’s ability to
handle the ball in Zach’s
absence was great.
“We just have a tough,
resilient group. Even when
we’ve had some losses I
feel like we’re still climbing.
We’re learning from
it, which is making us better
and it’s really the sign
of a bunch of guys who really
love playing with each
other.”
Highland Park’s Isaac Griswold rises for a contested
jump shot in a league battle with Glenbrook North
Friday, Feb. 8, in Highland Park. Photos by Gary
Larsen/22nd Century Media
Nate Fleisher looks for a Giants teammate during his
team’s loss to the Spartans.
Park district hoops squad sweeps local tourney
Submitted by Park
District of Highland Park
The Park District of
Highland Park fifth grade
basketball team took first
place at the Maine East
Shutout Tournament held
Jan. 19-20 in Park Ridge.
The Highland Park team
went 4-0 in the eight-team
tournament, which included
teams from Bartlett,
Deerfield, Glen Ellyn,
Mundelein, Libertyville
and Niles.
“We are incredibly
proud of the win,” said
Eric Golmon, athletics supervisor
for the Park District
of Highland Park. “A
victory like this illustrates
the team’s hard work and
dedication this season.”
Members of the team
are: Asher Blitz, David
Isaacson, Evan Mintzer,
Jake Grossmann, Jarrod
Cohen, Joey Moyer, Jonah
Mazursky, Konner Sayer,
Max Dubin and Noah Fox.
The team is coached by
Chris Gottschalk.
The Park District of
Highland Park basketball
league season runs from
November–February. For
more information, contact
Golmon at (847) 579-
3129.
RIGHT: The Park District
of Highland Park’s Maine
East Shutout champion
fifth-grade basketball
team: (left to right, front
row) Max Dubin, Evan
Mintzer, Jarrod Cohen,
Konner Sayer, Noah Fox,
(back row) Jake Grossman,
Asher Blitz, Jonah
Mazursky, David Issacson,
Joey Moyer and (far back)
coach Chris Gottschalk.
Photo Submitted