By Bobby Narang
Glenbard West High School sophomore forward Braden Huff is rapidly becoming a basketball player to watch in the Chicagoland area.
The 6-9 Huff put his talents on display at last week’s 18th Annual Glenbard West Holiday Classic. Armed with a sweet shooting stroke and good handles to go with length, Huff is soon to be a player in high demand by colleges.
Huff had a memorable showing Saturday against powerhouse De La Salle in the tournament championship game. He scored a career-high 28 points and hit five three-pointers to spark the Hilltoppers to a 74-71 overtime victory.
“The fans came out and the whole team was in it and when we got down nobody put their heads down,” Huff said. “It all started with our coach (Jason Opoka) having trust in us when we got down. We all stuck together.”
Despite his big game, it was sophomore guard Paxton Warden, another Glenbard West player with a high upside, who stole the spotlight. Warden equaled his career high with 15 points and helped send the game into overtime by drilling a corner three-pointer for a 62-61 lead with :59 remaining in regulation.
In overtime, after De La Salle scored five straight points, Warden sparked a run by hitting four free throws to lead the Hilltoppers, 11-1, to the victory.
“It was very nerve racking, but our bench and fans kept us going,” Warden said. “We all had good energy and that helped a lot. It felt great to win. We played good defense and made some key free throws. I just tried to keep in the zone.”
Montini girls tournament:
The host Broncos failed to advance to the championship game of their holiday tournament after losing, 53-52, in the semifinal round to Evanston. The Broncos, 16-1, suffered their first defeat of the season.
“I’m proud of the kids, because I’ve been, as usual, their biggest critic and pretty tough on them,” Montini head coach Jason Nichols said. “We’ve won a ton of games where I didn’t think we got better, but we sure got better today.”
Benet Academy suffered a hard-luck loss in the other semifinal game, when Lake Forest junior guard Molly Fisher drilled a 12-footer at the buzzer.