Glenbard South junior Cooper Langreder said that he had “never made a bigger shot” in his life.

Raiders coach Jason Mead said that as good as Langreder was on offense in the final seconds, his defensive effort the entire game was even better.

Either way you look at it, the junior was the man of the hour Friday night against visiting South Elgin. His layup with seven seconds remaining in overtime gave Glenbard South a wild 56-54 Upstate Eight crossover win over the Storm.

“I was excited,” said Langreder of his game-winning hoop, “but at that point I knew I had to keep my cool and get back on defense and get a final stop.”

Glenbard South improved to 2-3 on the season, and Langreder said the victory might have been a turning point for the Raiders.

“We hope to turn around our season now,” said the junior, “and just keep winning.”

The Raiders trailed 45-36 with 4:35 left in regulation, but made a big push down the stretch to force OT.

“We started pressuring (South Elgin) a little better,” Mead said of the Raiders’ big comeback. “When it’s early in the season, sometimes teams aren’t ready for pressure. We did a good job of that and got some turnovers, just executed great defensively.

“They (the Storm) have a lot of good shooters, but didn’t get a lot of good shots.”

After a sluggish first quarter from both teams, South Elgin (1-4) came alive in the second period. Sophomore Kevin Beckford Jr. scored five of his eight points in the second quarter to stake the Storm to a 26-24 halftime lead.

The Storm kept up the pace after halftime, taking a 38-33 advantage into the final quarter behind the stellar play of 6-6 senior Ilija Babic (8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocked shots). Then a 3-pointer from teammate Larry Smith III (team-high 15 points) gave South Elgin a 9-point lead midway through the fourth.

But Glenbard South rallied to tie the score at 50-50 and send the game to overtime. And with South Elgin in possession of the ball in the final seconds of the extra period and the score tied 54-all, the Raiders got a turnover.

Langreder grabbed the loose ball, dribbled the length of the court and laid the ball in to give the Raiders the lead.

South Elgin had one final chance, but Glenbard South forced another turnover with two seconds remaining to secure the win.

“I was getting a little nervous (as the clock wound down),” said Langreder, “but the team and I kept our cool and made the stop to close out the game.”

Junior Massimo Nalbono scored 10 points for South Elgin, while Beckford Jr. and Kyle Mann each pitched in with 8 points.

Sean Reese and Will Sieck paced Glenbard South with 15 points apiece, while Amir Jackson added 12. Reese, Sieck and Langreder led the Raiders on the boards, each getting five rebounds.

Coach Mead added that he appreciates the effort that Langreder has given this year on both ends of the floor.

“He’s usually not a big scorer,” said Mead, “but he has grown in maturity from his sophomore year to his junior year. He’s turning into kind of the glue guy for us, who does the kind of things that need to be done to win games.

“I’m glad he scored the last basket today, but that was not nearly as important as the defense he played in the post. That was a sticking point for us last year — guarding the big post guys — and Cooper did a really good job of that tonight.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251205/boys-basketball/boys-basketball-langreders-all-around-play-leads-glenbard-south-past-south-elgin-in-ot/