Trevians clean things up in thrashing of Spartans — their 5th straight victory

For New Trier junior Matthew Logue, offensive rebounding is all about “how bad you want it” and lately, he and the Trevians have really wanted it.

Logue and his teammates’ work on the glass was a catalyst in a 59-36 revenge victory on Friday night at Glenbrook North.

“(Offensive rebounding) is probably 10% technique, 90% effort and how much you want to get the ball,” Logue said. “It’s massive in hard games like this one, because it really changes the momentum.”

A plodding first quarter ended with a slim advantage, 6-4, for the Trevians, but Logue’s energy off the bench turned things up a notch for his team in the next stanza.

Logue had his own five-point burst and scored seven of his 13 points in the second quarter to give New Trier separation with a 23-14 halftime lead.

Out of the break, the Trevians picked up where they left off at the expense of their hosts.

Logue’s five rebounds and freshman Denym Wallace’s seven points highlighted an explosive third quarter for New Trier, which pushed its lead to 20.

“We talk a lot about rebounding. We wanted to offensive rebound tonight,” New Trier coach Scott Fricke said. “We talk every day in practice about finding bodies, boxing out, going to get the ball and I think we did that.

“And we shot the ball well. Last time we played them, we missed every shot we took. Tonight we made some shots. It makes a big difference.”

Last time, the Spartans edged the Trevians 67-64 on Jan. 13 in Winnetka. The result was part of three-game losing streak — all in Central Suburban South play — for New Trier. Since, and with Friday’s victory, New Trier has won five in a row, improving to 18-6 overall and 5-3 in the division.

Senior Danny Houlihan led the way Friday with 22 points, anchored by four three-pointers. Senior Max Vogel added 7 points to go with several assists, and junior Elton Jaegerskog had 5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.

During their winning streak, the Trevians also picked up impressive shootout victories against Kenwood on Jan. 19 and Oswego East on Jan. 24, when they won by 31 points (82-51).

“We’ve been playing pretty well. That Oswego East game, we just took a big step forward,” Fricke said.
“That week we played GBN and Maine South (Jan. 16) and lost those three games, we just couldn’t do anything right. The kids persevered, worked their tails off and we’re back to where we want to be. But we still want to get better.”

The major driver of the Trevians’ turnaround, agreed Fricke and Logue, has been defense.

And Logue said that has sparked success on the other end, too.

“We’ve talked as a team and we’ve known what we’ve done wrong,” he said. “It all comes from defense. That was a key thing we were lacking. Once we started to realize that and attack that and become better at it, it translated into offense. It gets us talking more and moving as a team.”

Fricke also complimented the continued improvement of several contributors in the prolonged absence of Princeton-bound senior Christopher Kirkpatrick, whose season status remains uncertain as he rehabs a knee injury.

Fricke said Logue and Wallace have stepped up in the post, “giving us a ton of production,” while Houlihan has shown his big-game ability and Vogel has grown into an all-around asset.

“The ball was in Christopher’s hands a ton, and it wasn’t in Max’s much,” Fricke said. “Max has taken that role over where not only is he handling the ball for us, making great decisions, he’s leading us. We needed that senior on the floor who was going to get us together and organize us and he’s really stepped up.”

The Trevians have a quick turnaround as they seek their sixth straight victory, playing Glenbard North at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Evanston High School in the annual War on the Shore event.

Matchups with Glenbrook South (Feb. 6), Fremd (Feb. 7) and Evanston (Feb. 13) loom.

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