High school basketball: Cooper Noard, Nick Martinelli lead Glenbrook South to first sectional title in school history

The Martinelli family has been the driving force behind Glenbrook South basketball for quite a few years now. First it was Jimmy Martinelli, then Dom, and finally Nick.

On Friday in the Titan Dome the little brother and his team pulled off what no team from Glenview has ever accomplished. Glenbrook South beat New Trier 55-52 to win the Class 4A Glenbrook South Sectional, the first sectional championship in school history.

“Both of my brothers were here today watching,” Nick Martinelli said. “This means so much for the community. I respect all of these people so much and I’m so happy we were able to win this for the school and all the people that come to the games to encourage us.”

Martinelli scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds. He was 5 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final minute to help seal the win. But it was senior Cooper Noard that put the Titans (33-2) over the top.

Noard scored 27 points and drained two crucial free throws with 2 seconds to play.

“He stepped up big time, obviously,” Martinelli said. “That kid is a maniac.”

Noard was 5-for-6 from three. He admitted that shooting in his home gym was a huge advantage.

“Last time [New Trier] beat us here and we weren’t happy about that,” Noard said. “This was my last game on this floor and I didn’t want to go out with a loss.”

The game was tight until Glenbrook South went on a 9-0 run midway through the third quarter to grab a 35-28 lead.

A rebound and bucket from Karlo Colak with 6:10 left to play pulled New Trier within three.

At that point, the Titans slowed the game nearly to a halt. Glenbrook South was methodical, doing everything it could to hold on to the ball and wait for New Trier to foul. Neither team scored for nearly three minutes.

“We’ve been waiting all year to get in a situation like that where we need to win a game,” Martinelli said. “We know we have guys that can take care of the ball well. So we just took our time. We wanted to win. That’s all we cared about.”

RJ Davis hit two massive three-pointers for the Titans and finished with nine points.

“When you are playing with guys like Nick and Cooper than can both go for 25 every night your job is just to stay ready,” Davis said. “That’s what this team is about, staying ready to make plays.”

Junior Josh Kirkpatrick led New Trier (30-4) with 21 points, including a gutsy three-pointer with nine seconds left that pulled the Trevians within 53-52.

Jackson Munro had 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists for New Trier and Jake Fiegen scored 11.

Glenbrook South will face Barrington in the Forest View Supersectional on Monday at 7. The winner advances to the state semifinals in Champaign on Friday.

“This game goes down as one of the best I’ve ever been a part of,” Glenbrook South coach Phil Ralston said. “We played an awful first half and we were just down two. Our kids tightened the ship up a little bit and that third quarter starter out with a big three from [Noard]. We hit that and didn’t look back.”

Watch the final minute of New Trier at Glenbrook South:

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