Glenbard North withstood another fourth-quarter comeback attempt to top Geneva 51-48 in DuKane Conference action on Wednesday.

With their 20th win of the season, the Panthers raised their DuKane record to 10-2 and took another step in securing the league title. Glenbard North has dropped only six contests and is one game ahead in the conference standings over Batavia and Wheaton Warrenville South.

After yielding an opening fourth-quarter basket to Glenbard North’s Oturo Redento (11 points) to widen the Panthers’ lead to 39-28, Geneva’s Nathan Palmer sparked a 14-4 run that tied the game 43-all with 1:57 left to play. The senior scored nine of his game-high 20 points during the scoring spree. Teammate Gabe Jensen’s three-pointer from the left wing knotted the score.

“I was just trying to get downhill, and when that wasn’t there, I just found a three-point shot,” Palmer said. “My teammates were kicking out, making good passes, so I felt my rhythm.”

Glenbard North’s steady hand at the free-throw line kept the Panthers in the lead. Following Jensen’s trey, host Geneva (21-6, 7-4), drew its fifth foul of the quarter on a Caeden Chilton (nine points) bucket, putting Glenbard North in the bonus. Chilton canned his free throw to return the lead to the Panthers, 46-43.

Glenbard North connected on three of its next four charity tosses to extend its lead to 49-45 with 24 seconds left. Palmer’s last basket of the night, a 3-pointer from the left wing, made it a one-point contest again, 49-48 with 11.5 seconds left.

Glenbard North’s Matt Welch (nine points) then converted two more free throws for the final margin.

“We like to keep it interesting,” joked Glenbard North coach Kevin Tonn. “Three (Palmer) got hot in the fourth, and I think they ended up having a 20-point fourth quarter, which you never like to see. But credit to our guys. They made free throws down the end and did a nice job finishing.”

After a sluggish first half that ended with Glenbard North leading 20-17, the Panthers hit their stride in the third quarter, scoring 17 points to Geneva’s 11.

“I think it was just a mental battle, you know, playing tough,” said Glenbard North’s Lamari Carpenter about play in the first half. “We came out harder in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter we let them speed us up, so down the stretch we slowed down and got our points.”

Carpenter led Glenbard scoring with 14 points.

“Their big three (Carpenter, Redento and Welch) are super talented. I thought we did a great job on Welsh, but Carpenter and Redento did their thing,” said Geneva coach Scott Hennig. “It’s hard to stop all three.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20260211/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-glenbard-north-holds-off-geneva-maintains-lead-in-tight-dukane-race/