New Trier unfazed in rematch with GBS

The last time Glenbrook South and New Trier faced off, the Titans gave the then undefeated Trevians a pretty significant scare as New Trier only escaped with a one point win.

There was no such scare this time around.

In Thursday night’s rematch, New Trier earned a comfortable 51-35 win, holding GBS to just 11 second half points to improve to 6-1 in the CSL South.

“At halftime we just said stick with the plan,” said New Trier head coach Scott Fricke. “We really got after it defensively in the second half and we were successful.”

With Ciaran Brayboy still playing a limited role even after returning from an injury stint, New Trier relied on guard Andrew Kirkpatrick and wing’s Griffin Ryan and Sam Silverstein to step up in his absence.

Griffin and Kirkpatrick combined for 13 first quarter points which helped spark a 8-0 run at the end of the first quarter, while Silverstein (six points, six rebounds, three assists) helped New Trier on the boards in Brayboy’s absence.

“Sam’s been great stepping in for Ciaran. He just plays with a lot of confidence and we love his game,” said Fricke. “Ciaran will be back the next time we play. He hasn’t even practiced yet so this was jus giving him a couple of minutes and we were glad it went the way it did so we were able to get him some time.”

Down nine points and struggling to score the basketball, GBS’ Dom Martinelli (12 points) found his shooting stroke early in the second quarter to ignite a 11-0 run, giving the Titans a two point lead.

New Trier would settle back in quickly and re-up the tempo of the game to force GBS into a few turnovers to take a 25-24 lead into halftime.

Fricke said: “We got off to a great start playing great defense but I give them credit they started hitting shots, and guys that we haven’t seen hit a lot of shots in games.”

Even though it seemed GBS had all of the momentum after their big second quarter, the final 16 minutes belonged entirely to the Trevians.

Starting with a Brian Conaghan three pointer, New Trier outscored GBS 11-3 in the third quarter to match their nine point lead from earlier in the contest.

This time however, New Trier kept their foot on the gas and did not allow GBS to claw back into the game.

After a quiet opening three quarters Spencer Boehm’s seven fourth quarter points, just one less point than the entire GBS team during that time frame, helped the Trevians seal the 51-35 win.

Andrew Kirkpatrick led all scorers with 16 points while added four assists and three steals with Griffin Ryan chipping in 14 points of his own.

As it is with most teams towards the end of the season, New Trier will have over a week off before facing Niles North next Friday while GBS will have a weekend non-conference matchup against Lane Tech.