Glenbard South overcomes St. Francis

On the last night of November, Glenbard South and St. Francis were thinking ahead to February.

The Raiders pulled out a 47-42 road victory in Wheaton on Tuesday night against a team they could see in the Class 3A sectional at the end of the season.

“We talked about, this is a game you want to win so we can go to the seeding meeting and say hey, we beat Glenbard South,” Spartans coach Jeff Gerdeman said. “They have that one up on us as does (St. Joseph) when it comes to seeding time. It'll hurt, but we can't do anything about it now.”

“We're right down the street from each other, both 3A schools, we're going to be in the same sectional,” Raiders coach Julie Fonda said. “You're playing for that and you're playing for us to continue the win streak. So it was a game that meant a lot in many ways.”

Glenbard South (6-0) had some momentum after winning its Thanksgiving tournament, but the Raiders were handicapped by the absence of two key players Theresa Scheet and Bridget Anderson due to illness. Their normal eight-player rotation was cut to six.

“This is a group that is not going to accept losing,” Fonda said. “This was the first time that we were down, and you saw them come back and they came together cohesively as a group. We were down two players today and we did that with six kids. Nevena (Markovic) never came out of the game, Sarah (Engelhardt) never came out of the game.”

The Raiders got into foul trouble, but none of them fouled out.

“We had to really move our feet,” said Raiders junior Danielle Chitkowski, noting a change in defenses early in the fourth quarter also. “No fouls was our line for the fourth quarter.”

The Spartans (5-2) led 25-21 at halftime, but the Raiders tied the game at 32 after three periods. Engelhardt broke a 37-37 tie with 4:53 to play in the game with a 15-foot jump shot, and the Spartans never caught up.

“We had opportunities but let them slip away. Give Glenbard South credit,” Gerdeman said. “They're a tough team, a well-coached team, and they did what it takes to pull it out.”

Markovic, a 6-foot-4 senior, led all scorers with 19 points to go with 14 rebounds and 4 assists. Patrice Hicks added 11 points for the Raiders.

Fiona McMahon, a 6-1 senior, led the Spartans with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

“They're both very good ballplayers. And different too. We do different things with them,” Gerdeman said, noting McMahon plays mostly in the low post while Markovic often goes outside and had the Raiders' only 3-pointer of the night.

“I think they're two of the top big players in the area. I think (Markovic) is a little bit better known than Fiona, but I think Fiona is going to make a name for herself as the season progresses.”

“Great matchup,” Fonda added. “It was something we talked about all day yesterday. She's a very, very good player. She's come a long way.”