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Glenbard South learns a lesson

For most of the season, Glenbard South has made do with playing one strong half and having one subpar half.

With 15 of their 17 wins coming by double digits, the Raiders have slipped by without playing a full 32 minutes.

"We're more of a first-half or second-half team - we either pick one or the other, we never really play a full game," Raiders junior Maggie Bair said.

Saturday, against Mother McAuley at the Coach Kipp Shootout at Willowbrook, Glenbard South found out what can happen when it doesn't play a complete game.

The Mighty Macs erased an 18-point halftime deficit en route to a 42-36 victory. It's just Glenbard South's second loss of the season. The first came against defending state champion Geneva in the season opener.

Geneva is ranked third in the most recent Associated Press Class 4A rankings, while Mother McAuley just missed being ranked by a couple of votes in Class 4A. Glenbard South is ranked third in Class 3A.

"We just kind of went into shock mode," Glenbard South coach Morgan Kasperek said. "I think they thought we won the game at half. There's two halves for a reason."

Glenbard South (17-2) seemed to be in complete control in the first half.

The Raiders limited the Mighty Macs to 2-of-17 shooting, outrebounded them 14-7, forced 5 turnovers and went into the break with a 25-7 lead and a ton of confidence.

"I think we were pretty excited," Bair said.

Mother McAuley (16-5) scored on seven of its first eight possessions of the second half and cut the deficit to 28-21. Defensively, the Mighty Macs' pressure caused the Raiders fits.

Glenbard South committed 3 turnovers on its first four possessions and didn't score until Mady Carli hit a 3-pointer with 4:28 to play in the third quarter.

"They pressured our guards really hard," Bair said. "I think our other players besides our guards didn't react as well as we should have. I know I should've helped out our guards more."

Mother McAuley kept chipping away at the deficit in the third quarter. The Mighty Macs got the deficit within one possession - 29-27 - before Sarah Cohen converted a three-point play with 48 seconds to play in the quarter that made it a 32-27 game. Glenbard South finished the third quarter shooting 2 of 5 and had 7 turnovers.

"I think we kind of let that get to us a little bit going to the second half," Bair said. "I just think we didn't go in and play a tough second half like we should've."

And in the fourth quarter Mother McAuley's defensive pressure finally gave them the lead.

Carli had a 3-pointer with 7:30 to play that gave Glenbard South a 35-27 lead. It turned out to be Glenbard South's last field goal. The Raiders only mustered two more field-goal attempts the rest of the game, committed 9 turnovers and scored just 4 points in the fourth.

Mother McAuley took the lead on a Jenna Badali 3-pointer with 3:35 to play and never looked back.

"It was a good wakeup call for us," Bair said. "It definitely showed us that we can hang with some good teams, but we also need to play full game to beat those teams."

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