Glenbard South will get shot at division title

All things considered, Glenbard South really shouldn't have won Tuesday's night's girls basketball game at Riverside-Brookfield.

Instead the young Raiders - playing only sophomores and freshmen again - tuned out a raucous Riverside-Brookfield student section, figured out the Bulldogs' tricky defenses and went home even atop the Metro Suburban Conference West Division in the loss column after a 41-38 victory.

"It's huge," Raiders coach Morgan Kasperek said. "I was impressed that my young team was able to handle this environment. It's a fun place to play basketball. It's fun to play high school basketball when the crowd and everyone is yelling."

Kasperek called it the toughest road environment her team has seen this year.

It was the second time this season the Raiders (14-9, 8-2) have knocked off the Bulldogs (18-10, 9-2) this season. The Bulldogs play at Aurora Central Catholic next week with a chance to wrap up a share of the division title. The Raiders meet IC Catholic Prep and Wheaton Academy on consecutive Thursdays hoping to share the title with the Bulldogs.

Trailing by 2 points at halftime, the Raiders opened the second half with a 7-0 run. Riverside-Brookfield tied the game later in the third quarter, but it never did take the lead again. Sophomore Sarah Cohen's 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter put the Raiders ahead by 7, their biggest lead of the game.

The Bulldogs did their best to stop the Raiders' guards, employing a triangle-and-two defense on Cohen and sophomore Mady Carli, moving to a box-and-one when Cohen left the game in the first half with foul trouble. The Raiders' big front line stepped into the breach offensively, with sophomore Ally Daca scoring 15 points and freshman Maggie Bair 9.

"We handled some adversity with Sarah getting in foul trouble in the first half," Kasperek said. "Kate Mora came in and played, scored 2 points, that was huge. She was able to play 'D' on (Bulldogs guard Samantha) Bloom. You almost saw Ally grow up a little at the end of this game, and Maggie Bair. They did a lot of things well. We had to win this game with not Sarah and not Mady, so they learned how to play a little bit."

Cohen added 9 points for the Raiders. Bloom led the Bulldogs with 17 points.

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