Boys Basketball: Glenbrook North bench getting paper-thin

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Northbrook Friday 01.20.12. Glenbrook North's Kurt Karis (left) (10) attempts to block a shot by Niles North's Tafari Beckford (center) (10) during their game on Friday, January 20, 2012, in Northbrook. On the right is Glenbrook North's Jason Markus (1). | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 27, 2012 8:47AM

Apparently, nine of the players on the Glenbrook North court at the end of Friday night’s contest had not seen video of the 1983 NCAA National Championship game.

In that legendary game, North Carolina State’s Derrick Wittenberg hoisted a potentially game-winning, long-distance shot with seconds to spare. The ball drew nothing but air, but teammate Lorenzo Charles caught the ball and dunked it at the buzzer to give his team the upset win over Georgetown.

Niles North and Glenbrook North stood tied 54-54 in the waning seconds Friday when Vikings junior guard Malachi Nix launched a 35-footer. When the ball fell short of the rim, players on both teams seemed to react as if the game were over. Not Niles North junior forward Billy Voitik. He caught the ball, spun and laid it in at the buzzer to give the visiting Vikings the 56-54 triumph.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in all the years I’ve been coaching,” Glenbrook North head coach David Weber said. “Literally, nine kids stopped except for one kid (Voitik). He picked it up and tossed it in. It was a great play by him, and we learned you have to play to the buzzer.”

Glenbrook North dropped to 13-4, 4-2 and is now tied atop the CSL North with Niles North and Highland Park.

The Spartans also received some bad news this week when they found out star forward Andrew McAuliffe would miss additional time, perhaps the rest of the season, because of his knew injury. McAuliffe had returned to practice last week, but realized the knee was not strong enough to play.

Injuries have plagued GBN much of the campaign, and the team has been playing with a thin bench as a result. Weber acknowledged that fatigue may have been a factor late in Friday’s contest.

“We don’t have many kids with varsity experience and we played with really five and a half guys,” the coach said. “We got worn out and run down toward the end of the game.”

The coach said the game also seemed to turn on a controversial fourth-quarter play when Glenbrook’s Mark Johnson (24 points) was seemingly hit on a drive to the basket, but no foul was called.

Weber protested and was whistled for a technical foul. The Spartans had been leading by five points, but never seemed to regain their momentum.

“The game swung from that point,” Weber said. “We were not able to respond strong enough to offset it. We learned a great lesson from that game. I learned a lesson as a coach and the players learned lessons about how to react. Though hopefully, we don’t get in that situation again.”

Glenbrook North senior Adam Chick scored 13 points, junior Kurt Karis had six and junior Jason Marcus hit the three-pointer that tied the score 54-54 with eight seconds remaining.

The Spartans led 29-18 at halftime, but the Vikings stormed back in the third quarter, briefly taking a 41-40 lead. Karis nailed a three-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to put GBN up 43-41.

After facing Prospect on Tuesday, Glenbrook North welcomes Deerfield at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Warriors defeated the Spartans 48-42 in overtime on Dec. 9. It was Glenbrook North’s first game without the injured

McAuliffe.

“Deerfield creates a lot of problems for us. We want to play fast and they like to play slow,” Weber said. “The last time, we tried to play so fast, but they slowed us down. Also, we didn’t shoot well up there. We were 5-for-13 from the free-throw line and that pretty much lost the game. We’re better now at the free-throw line.”