Glenbard West’s size overwhelms Yorkville Christian

When the top-ranked recruits in the senior class meet on the court during the high school basketball season it is a noteworthy event. It doesn’t always happen and the players are rarely signed with colleges as impressive as Duke and Gonzaga.

All that hype sold out Yorkville Christian’s gym on Friday, where more than 1,000 fans crammed into The Canyon to see the home team and Duke recruit Jaden Schutt host No. 1 Glenbard West and Gonzaga recruit Braden Huff.

The Hilltoppers (8-0) were just too tall and too good for Yorkville Christian from the start and coasted to a 93-68 win.

Huff, who is 6-11, finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds. The Mustangs entire team managed 10 rebounds.

Schutt had 21 points. He scored 15 in the second quarter as Yorkville Christian (5-4) managed to cut Glenbard West’s lead to seven at one point.

Most recruiting analysts have Schutt as the top recruit in the class and Huff at number two.

“At the end of the day it doesn’t matter to me,” Huff said. “I’m happy with where I am committed and all that. But I think just getting a win is good for our team and we’re in a really good place.”

Bobby Durkin, a 6-7 Army recruit, finished with 23 points and seven rebounds and senior Paxton Warden scored 18 for the Hilltoppers.

“It was definitely different,” Durkin said. “We hadn’t really played a game yet where other teams had a student section and they were talking to us. We knew it would be different but just kind of experiencing it getting loud and stuff was a good test to start the season.”

Schutt, who set the state record for three-pointers in a game when he was a sophomore, was 3-for-14 from three-point range.

Allen Cunningham/For the Sun-Times

“We haven’t played a team that tall,” Schutt said. “So it was just getting used to that and adjusting to it.”

Schutt and Huff are club basketball teammates on the Illinois Wolves and friends. There wasn’t any trash talk before, during or after the game.

“It’s my team vs. his team and they were the better team tonight,” Schutt said. “It was a fun game, getting to play against people I know and have been in the gym working out with.”

Senior KJ Vasser scored 20 points for the Mustangs, who will have another major test on Saturday at the Team Rose Classic against Hyde Park.

The Hilltoppers will also be at Mount Carmel for the Team Rose Classic on Saturday. They will face undefeated Hillcrest.