Glenbard North defeats Glenbard South

Glenbard North's girls basketball players proved something to themselves with Monday's 36-18 victory against Glenbard South.

The Panthers (3-1) showed they can bounce back from a difficult defeat.

"It's going to help our confidence," Panthers sophomore guard Leah Miller said of the win at the Rachel Bach Tournament at Glenbard East. "We had a tough loss on Saturday, so we were kind of down, but we worked hard today, so that helps."

"I knew (the Raiders) were young, so I thought it was a good opportunity for us to run our stuff and certainly take a step forward from Saturday," said Panthers coach John Chamberlain, whose team is young but more experienced than the Raiders. "We had a little bit of a letdown there. I just felt like we were pressed early and never really in the game. I just challenged our girls to just go back to running our stuff. I think that was the difference."

Glenbard North took a 16-8 halftime lead, then hit double digits when Zakiya Newsome's lay-in midway through the third quarter made the score 21-11.

The margin hit 20 points on junior Hannah Heier's jumper from just inside the 3-point arc midway through the fourth quarter.

"I think our defense this game was the best it's been for all our games," Panthers sophomore guard Leah Miller said. "Same with executing. When we executed our plays we got our shots."

While the young Panthers experienced some growing pains in Saturday's loss, the even younger Raiders (0-2) continued to struggle, especially when senior guard Payton Carli left the court due to foul trouble. The Raiders started four sophomores alongside Carli, only one of whom, guard Sarah Cohen, saw much playing time as a freshman. Freshman Maggie Bair was the first player off the Glenbard South bench.

"The good thing is, we are doing things well," first-year Glenbard South coach Morgan Kasperek said. "We're young, and we can't be young anymore because when you have nine kids are on your varsity team, you can't be young. We've got to figure it out and quickly, and we will. I have a very coachable basketball team and they're willing to work hard. They listen. A ton of upside. But it's Game No. 2, so we can't freak out yet."

"Morgan's got a great system," Chamberlain added. "They're going to figure it out."

Forward Lauren Lee led the Panthers with 12 points on two 3-point shots, plus 4 steals. Senior Jennifer Deegan added 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

"She shot the ball very well," Chamberlain said of Lee. "When she's open she's knocking them down. She's a good scorer for us. She's led our team a couple of different games scoring now, so getting that from a sophomore, total bonus."

Also at Glenbard East, the host Rams handed Glenbard West its first defeat of the season, 40-31.

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