Glenbard East stops Hinsdale South

Glenbard East took a step forward as a girls basketball program last year, going above the .500 mark for the first time in years.

The Rams looked Tuesday like they can be even better this year.

The Glenbard East defense held host Hinsdale South to just 7 points in the middle quarters and the Rams left Darien with a 52-37 nonconference victory.

"We just ran our plays, good hustle, the energy was all together, we knew what we wanted," said Rams forward Brasia Solid.

The Hornets (4-3) led 15-12 after one quarter, but they went nearly six minutes before Sydney Kopp broke the Hornets' scoring drought. By then the Rams (4-2) had reeled off 20 straight points to take a 32-17 lead at halftime.

"It felt good," Solid said. "It kept us going even more once we started making our shots, getting warmed up."

It didn't get much better for the Hornets in the third period. Glenbard East outscored Hinsdale South 11-5 to bump the lead past the 20-point mark. The Rams' biggest advantage was 26 points.

"That's our defense," Rams coach Don Finnie added. "That's what we predicate a lot of our team on is the defense, and that takes care of the offense."

Entering the game averaging 27.2 points a game - and hitting most of the 3-pointers she attempted in pregame warmups - Kopp was the focus of the Glenbard East defense. Rams point guard Ashley Brown started the game by picking up Kopp full-court defensively. When Brown got 2 quick fouls, sophomore Katie Hansen took over.

Senior Amber Llorens came off the bench to take her turn guarding Kopp also. It made a big difference.

"I'm very happy with the three girls who were on (Kopp). I thought that was the big difference. It took them out of their offensive sets because once she passed the ball away it was really hard to get it back to her," Finnie said.

"It had a huge effect," Hornets coach Brett Love agreed. "She's our No. 1 ball handler and our No. 1 scorer. No. 1 probably in everything else as well. ... To make it difficult for her to score makes it a little more difficult for us to be successful. We just have got to do a better job at working together and executing at the offensive end."

Despite the extra attention Kopp still finished with a game-best 21 points.

"We held her below her average, which is what we were hoping for," Finnie said.

Solid led the Rams with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

"She had great rebounding," Finnie said. "She took the ball to the hoop when we needed it. She's strong. It's nice to see her do that."

Llorens added 12 points and 5 rebounds, and Hansen scored 8 and rebounded 8.

Brown scored 4, but her biggest contribution was in breaking the Hinsdale South press.

"They couldn't press us so they dropped back into a man, which helped us too," Finnie said.

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