Glenbard East's Dolinski just misses triple-double against West Aurora

Glenbard East had a few reasons to celebrate Tuesday's 38-33 girls basketball victory against visiting West Aurora.

For starters, there was how the Rams won despite giving up the first 11 points of the game.

"The last time against West Aurora at their house, they blew us out over there," Rams center Christina Dolinski said. "We did not want that to happen (again). We wanted to do that to them. And we picked up our defense and we worked the ball more on offense, and it was a good (second) half."

Plus, the Rams (6-14, 3-3 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division) kept their only winning streak of the season going, stretching it to three games.

"We needed (the win)," Dolinski said. "We just needed it for our confidence."

And there was Dolinski's near-triple-double. The 6-foot-3 senior came off the bench to score 10 points, grab 10 rebounds, block 8 West Aurora shots to change the game and dish 3 assists.

"I don't really pay attention to that," Dolinski said. "I was on the court doing what I love and I'm really happy about that. And I was really happy to play this game. We finally won a good home game, and that's what we had to show our fan section and ourselves."

It wasn't just any win for the Rams. They handed West Aurora (10-9, 5-1) its first league loss of the season.

The Rams' comeback started with a Dolinski basket that just beat the first-quarter buzzer, cutting the Blackhawks' lead to 15-4. But it was a Dolinski block that turned the game's momentum.

"That one big block, that very first one where it was like a volleyball 10-foot line block," Rams coach Don Finnie said. "That got the bench and everyone going."

Then the Rams scored the first six points of the second quarter. At halftime West Aurora led 19-12.

"Once we got to halftime, we knew we needed some positivity, and that's what we got," said Dolinski, who scored 20 points off the bench in Saturday's win at East Aurora. "We were determined because we wanted to win."

Briana Raysby led the Rams with 13 points and added 6 rebounds.

"It was nice to see Briana Raysby start scoring again," Finnie said. "She had 13. That's basically what her average is. She's in a little dry spot, but a shooter is going to pick it back up. She had a nice game today, some nice rebounding."

Skylar Doby scored 8 points and Essence Rayford 7 to lead West Aurora, which scored just 18 points after that 15-point first quarter. The Blackhawks made 8 of 48 shots in the final three periods after making 6 of 9 in the first quarter.