Glenbard North downs Metea Valley
Senior Jennifer Deegan's impressive double-digit scoring streak might have ended, but for the Glenbard North girls basketball team, Thursday's victory over Metea Valley may just be the beginning.
The strong offensive combination of sophomores Lauren Lee and Leah Miller helped the Panthers score the first 10 points and maintain control for a 49-33 DuPage Valley Conference victory in Carol Stream.
“Since we were both shooting fairly well, that's what made us win. This game was probably one of our best together,” Lee said. “Before the game we talked about how we're supposed to push the ball and get our shots open (as a team) and that's what we did.”
Lee had 18 points and two 3-pointers for the Panthers (10-7, 3-4) and Miller had 16 points with four 3s. Their biggest buckets came in the final three minutes after the determined Mustangs (6-11, 2-5) closed to 36-31 on Bri Hall's 3 with 2:37 left.
Following a Metea turnover, Lee took a feed from Miller and drilled a wide-open jumper from left of the key. Seven seconds after two free throws by Metea's Janiece Thomas, Miller took Lee's pass in the left corner and nailed her final 3 for a 41-33 advantage with 1:44 to go.
“Absolute backbreakers. Those were huge. That was great to see,” Glenbard North coach John Chamberlain said. “(Lee and Miller) spent the early part of the season kind of trading off (scoring). Jen came to the forefront for a couple of weeks there, so if they're both kicking the way they did tonight, we're going to be real tough.”
Thomas had 12 points, Hall had 9 points and 8 rebounds and freshman Ashley Konkle had 7 points and 11 rebounds.
The Mustangs hoped to continue their momentum from Tuesday's emotional 41-39 loss at DVC leader Wheaton Warrenville South. Instead, they had just 6 first-quarter points and 10 turnovers on their first 16 possessions.
“We just didn't come prepared, ready to play. Mentally I don't think we were there. The second half was different. We came, had that energy, effort,” Metea coach Cedric Williams said. “We just can't continue to put ourselves in that type of bond, being down by 12 at halftime and try to make that up. I just hope that we can just continue to battle on a consistent basis.”
The Panthers snapped a two-game losing streak. Before Thursday Deegan had scored in double figures in seven consecutive games, starting with 24 against Wheaton North on Dec. 15. She finished with 8 points on two late free throws and 6 rebounds.
“I saw that Lauren and Leah were making their shots so I was going to give them the ball. As long as we're winning and playing well, that's fine (not scoring),” Deegan said. “We started out with a lot more energy. We got after the ball and pushed it. In our man (defense), we got steals and deflections. That really brought up our energy.”
Besides her outside shooting, the 5-foot-8 Lee also held her own down low defensively with 6 rebounds and 9 steals.
“It was hard in the post because they were so much bigger than me,” Lee said. “We told each other we had to help each other because of how tall they were. That's how we got deflections and steals.”
Chamberlain opted for a man-to-man defense after the Panthers' “sleepwalking” in recent games playing zone. The offense scored 13 points on its first five possessions, starting with threes by Lee and Miller and ending with another Miller 3.
“The fact that we really came out and established both ends was very cool,” Chamberlain said. “I really do think we're still finding our identity. How are we going to continue putting the pieces together? I think you just take the positives and hopefully those keep getting built upon.”