Glen Crest eighth-grade boys earn conference title on buzzer-beater

The Glen Crest eighth-grade boys basketball team earned the conference title in dramatic fashion, beating Herrick Middle School on a last-second shot by Sean Reese. The Spartans finished the regular season 9-1 and tied Herrick for the DuPage Metro Valley Association Conference regular-season title.

Glen Crest head coach Danny Sheridan said that before the season started, the team had set a goal of winning the conference regular-season title. They expected Herrick would be the biggest challenge. Herrick had beaten Glen Crest easily in seventh grade, and Herrick won the first match-up this season.

The final regular season game was played at Glen Crest on December 7. Glen Crest needed a win to tie for the regular season title.

It had been a back-and-forth game, but Herrick was ahead 41-40 in the final seconds. Glen Crest forced a jump ball to get possession, then called time out. With eight seconds left, the Spartans needed to inbound the ball and go the length of the court to score.

Cooper Langreder received the inbounds pass. He turned to his right and maneuvered through two defenders to get past half-court. As he dribbled toward the free throw line, two Herrick defenders came toward him, leaving Sean Reese alone under the basket. Langreder dropped a pass to Reese who hit the layup as time expired.

“The place went up for grabs,” Sheridan said. “I’ve never seen anything like that at a middle school game. It was pretty awesome. You could not have scripted it better.”

The eighth-grade team members are: Joey Cunningham, Keujan Davis, Dominic Jasper, Cooper Langreder, Aidan McCaleb, Connor McKenna Dylan Micek, Sean Reese, Ryder Schmidt, Will Sieck, Emmett Foster-Simbulan, Sean Stramaglia, Jordyn Warren, Lucas Wilder.

Video courtesy of Matt Galas

Posted: December 27, 2022