Hinsdale Central's Bareck reaches 1,000-point mark in win against Glenbard West
Glenbard West didn't start Friday night's girls basketball game very well.
Hinsdale Central senior guard Paige Bareck also was a little slow to get in a groove.
Both got going eventually, but the Hilltoppers couldn't overcome Bareck and her Red Devils teammates, falling 62-45 in a West Suburban Silver game in Glen Ellyn.
“I was a little off in the beginning,” said Bareck, who made only one of her first eight shots, “but once our team got some momentum going, passed the ball around, I just kind of felt like I might as well keep shooting. I felt confident. I felt like I really wanted to beat Glenbard.”
Not only did the Red Devils (11-5, 3-3) take the victory from their rivals, but Bareck left with a nice personal milestone too. With a free throw early in the fourth quarter, Bareck reached the 1,000-point mark for the Hinsdale Central varsity.
Bareck finished with 22 points, giving her 1,007 total, plus 10 rebounds. “It's a great honor,” Bareck said. “I'm kind of speechless.”
“We decided to drop her down in the 2-3 (zone) because she's a great rebounder,” added Hinsdale Central coach Tom McKenna. “She's usually up top because she's pretty good at getting balls up top.”
Hinsdale Central led 17-5 after the first quarter. Glenbard West (11-6, 2-5) never pulled closer than 7 points after that.
“We were a little rusty this week at practice,” said Hilltoppers coach Karen Persinger. “We weren't real sharp. And how we started was kind of how — and not to make excuses or take anything away from what Central did tonight, they came ready to play and we didn't. It's a real shame that we weren't ready to go.”
“We wanted to come out really aggressively because they are so well-coached and so aggressive and play so hard,” McKenna added, “we said we have to come out really aggressive and force them to work.”
Glenbard West came in with loads of momentum after going undefeated and taking the championship at the Riverside-Brookfield holiday tournament last week.
“It was right there for us, to be honest with you,” Persinger said. “It was right there for us and we just weren't ready. In that first quarter we weren't ready. And we couldn't overcome it. We did some things that are uncharacteristic of us. We played poorly on the defensive end as far as our rotation and help. And we committed some fouls that were unnecessary.”
Riley Burr added 11 points and Abbi Shaker 10 for the Red Devils, who lost point guard Gracie Hartzman to a sprained ankle in the second half.
Catherine Reedy led Glenbard West with 16 points, and Samantha Skirvin added 15.