Metea Valley bounces back against Glenbard North

It didn't take long for Metea Valley to put Tuesday's drubbing by Wheaton Warrenville South in the rearview mirror.

After Leah Miller's 40-footer at the buzzer gave Glenbard North a 27-25 halftime lead, the Mustangs outscored the Panthers 18-4 in the third quarter and rolled to a 57-46 girls basketball victory Thursday in Aurora.

Sophomore Ashley Konkle led Metea Valley (7-10, 3-4 DuPage Valley Conference) with 18 points and 9 rebounds and Brianna Hall added 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter that gave the Mustangs an early 14-10 lead.

"Against Wheaton South it looked like we had never stepped on the court before," Konkle said. "That game was a letdown. But I'm more focused on the fact that we were able to bounce back today. It's almost as if that game (Tuesday) never happened. We didn't even speak of it at practice yesterday."

A 3-pointer by Janiece Thomas and Skye Lane's basket at the 6:34 mark of the second quarter allowed Metea Valley to extend its lead to 21-12. But Glenbard North (8-9, 1-6) stormed back, grabbing the lead at halftime on Miller's long toss from in front of the scorer's table.

"I haven't made a shot like that in a while," she said. "Maybe in park district basketball or something."

But Glenbard North's celebration was short-lived. Tess Thompson's rebound basket with 2:03 remaining in the third quarter gave Metea Valley a 41-29 lead and Glenbard North never got closer than 9 points the rest of the way.

"Coach (Cedric Williams) came in at halftime and said everything that was needed to be said … pick up the defense, keep your heads up, continue to pound the ball inside," Konkle said. "We were able to do that.

"We made some unforced turnovers," she added. "It happens, especially with this team. It's inevitable. But the third quarter wins games and that's what we did."

Thomas had 7 points and Thompson added 6 points for the Mustangs. Miller paced Glenbard North with 11 points, all in the first half, and freshman Brea King and Zakiya Newsome each had 9.

"We'll learn from this," Miller said. "I think we were in our heads too much in the third quarter. They started going on a run and we were in our heads too much. We needed to relax. But we'll just move on to the next game."