Glenbard South takes sixth straight win
Glenbard South juniors Ally Daca and Sarah Cohen and Chicago Christian sophomore Janay Turner scored all of the points in the first quarter Monday.
What happened afterward on the basketball court - especially defensively - paved the way for the Raiders' sixth straight victory, 46-22 in a Metro Suburban Conference crossover in Glen Ellyn.
"We've just been defense, defense, defense … making sure we're in the right spots," Cohen said. "I think we're getting more comfortable with each other and knowing where each other is on the court."
The Raiders (13-4) led 19-13 at the half and opened the third quarter with an 8-1 run to establish their first double-digit lead at 27-14.
Daca began with back-to-back inside baskets with the next two coming from sophomore Maggie Bair.
"I think we just clicked and played really well together and started to look for the openings and control the ball better than we had been," Daca said. "We're just talking on offense, too, looking for people who are open and being smarter with our passes."
Bair had a game-high 18 points, including 12 points and two 3-pointers in the second half, with 7 rebounds and 5 blocks. Daca had 11 points and 6 rebounds and Cohen had 9 points with two 3s. The trio combined for the Raiders' first 34 points before sophomore Angel Avila scored the next 6.
The Raiders have won eight of their last nine, their last 57-44 at St. Edward on Jan. 7 to snap the Green Wave's 12-game winning streak. The only loss is 41-40 to eventual tournament champion Wheaton North in the Falcon Classic quarterfinals Dec. 27 when a last-second shot didn't fall.
The Knights (13-6) were coming off Saturday's emotional 61-58 victory over rival Illiana Christian. The Raiders' sixth sub-30-point defensive effort this season was the Knights' season-low total by two points.
"We're picking up our (man-to-man) defense and starting to figure out offense," Glenbard South coach Morgan Kasperek said. "In the last couple of weeks, we've been doing a much better job playing defense, pressuring the ball, playing on the weak side."
Glenbard South led 13-9 after one quarter with 7 points by Daca and two 3s from Cohen. Although Cohen went scoreless until the fourth quarter, she was invaluable defensively after being switched late in the first quarter to guard Turner.
Turner, who averages 17 points, finished with 13 points after two second-half layups off her steals. After making her first three shots, including a 2-pointer, and two free throws, she finished 5 for 14 overall.
"She's a really good player. She's really fast so I just had to keep in front of her and try to stop her as good as I can," Cohen said.
"She's a good player. Sarah's a great defender," Kasperek said.
The Knights were 9 for 29 from the field and followed Turner's first free two throws by going 1 for 10 over the final three quarters. Starting sophomore point guard Ciara Randle El is the daughter of former NFL player Antwaan Randle El.
"We lost to a better team for sure, but at the same time we were a step slow all game," said Chicago Christian coach John Natanek, who started one senior. "I give all of the credit to them. Glenbard did what they needed to. They were patient, took some good shots and extended the lead."
The Raiders often methodically sliced into the Knights' active 2-3 zone. Daca and Bair were inside recipients in many strong passing combinations. Ashley Dodge had 3 assists in the first quarter.
"We missed a couple of shots early and we let that get in our head," Kasperek said. "Especially when someone's playing you in a zone and you're getting the right shot and you miss, you're still doing the right thing. And you're opening up the zone for everybody else."