Glenbard East eases by Glenbard South

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:00PM

Zach Miller is wearing a different uniform number this season, but his other numbers haven't changed.

Picking where he left off last winter, the 5-9 senior point guard tallied nine points, six assists and five steals to lead Glenbard East to an easy 75-39 season-opening victory over Glenbard South Monday night at the District 87 Thanksgiving Tournament at Glenbard West.

Miller, a Northern Illinois signee, had worn No. 3 throughout his high school career but switched to 32, the number that his father and coach, Scott Miller, wore when he played at Yorkville.

"My dad's the coach and it's kind of like one of those things [where it's] my last year with my dad," Miller said. "He wore 32 in high school so I wanted to switch and do it [in tribute] to him."

Miller did nearly all of his damage in the first half as the Rams rallied from an early four-point deficit with a 19-5 run bridging the first and second quarters. Miller capped that surge with a steal and a layup, a steal and a feed that led to a layup by Steve Kinney and finally another layup off a pass from Kinney to give East a 31-18 lead.

"He's just so heady with the ball and makes great decisions, even first night out," Scott Miller said. "He just really runs the show, so we're glad to have him for one more year."

Zach Miller and Illinois State recruit Jon Hill are expected to lead East to another big season, and Hill was on the receiving end of several Miller assists. The 6-3 forward scored a game-high 23 points and sank his final five shots, the last of which was a thunderous dunk off a Pat Walsh steal that made it 65-37.

But the Rams, who closed the game on a 32-8 run, have some solid complementary pieces in Kinney, a 6-1 senior forward who had 13 points and three steals, and senior guard Tyree York, who chipped in nine points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals and helped East force 31 turnovers. Junior Dante Bailey started slowly by had five points and seven rebounds.

"There's guys on this team that didn't play significant minutes last year like me and Jon did, and they are just trying to get the feel for it," Zach Miller said. "They've been hyped up the last couple weeks in school and you could tell they were a little nervous. In the second half I think they started coming along.

"Dante's got a great shot, Kinney finishes well around the basket and he goes hard and Tyree, it may go unnoticed, but his defense that he puts out there on the opposing guards is incredible."

Dusko Despot scored 10 points and Dan Marshall and Matt Jeske had four apiece for the Raiders, who had trouble converting layups on the few times they managed to break East's press and sank just 9-of-18 foul shots.

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