Second-quarter woes doom Rams
Trailing 17-10 after one quarter in Oswego, Glenbard East's girls basketball team knew it needed a strong second period to keep itself in the game.
The Rams could only muster 7 points in the second quarter, however, and dropped a 57-39 decision to Oswego on Tuesday night.
Junior Jackie Foreman's 3-pointer stood as Glenbard East's lone field goal of the quarter, and the Rams (6-6) headed into halftime trailing 28-17.
Glenbard East coach Nicole Miller knew her team would have its hands full guarding Oswego's drive-and-dish offense, and her premonition came to life, as Panthers junior Katie Ziemnik poured in six 3s on the night.
"With their two slashers, (Brittany Collier and Samiya Wright), they can just drive, so it's kind of pick your poison," Miller said. "They played well tonight."
Tuesday night served as a slump buster for Ziemnik, who had been searching for her shooting stroke over her last few games.
"My team looked for me in the openings, because we've been having trouble with that," the 5-foot-8 Ziemnik said. "I've been having tough games the past few games, and nothing's been working for me, so I went in the gym (last) Monday and Tuesday after our games, and I just worked on my shot, squaring my shoulders, and it went in tonight."
Ziemnik led all scorers with 23 points while shooting 6 of 8 from 3-point range.
Rams sophomore Olivia Trefilek led the visitors with 12 points, scoring 6 in the fourth quarter.
"She's just kind of a gritty player, really tough, physical player," Miller said. "She's only a sophomore, and she does a really nice job in there. She got to the foul line quite a few times, and she did a real nice job."
The Rams cut Oswego's lead to 33-26 in the third quarter, but a 10-2 Panthers run to close the quarter put Oswego (8-5) in front by 15, fueled by a pair of Ziemnik 3s.
Glenbard East found little success matching up against the Panthers' man-to-man defense, which has been clicking with more frequency as their season wears on.
"We have been playing really good on (man-to-man), and everybody was helping each other and sagging when we needed it," Ziemnik said.
Glenbard East resumes play in the Oswego Holiday Classic Friday afternoon, taking on Yorkville.
"We're just going to have to play hard -- same thing, game in and game out," Miller said.
Fenwick 52, Hinsdale Central 35: A nonconference game between former state champions, defending Class AA champ Fenwick outscored host Hinsdale Central, the 2002 Class AA champ, 28-9 in the second half.
Toni Kokenis scored 16 points with 6 steals for Hinsdale Central, which dropped to 9-1. Fenwick (11-2) was led by Tricia Liston with 19 points and Katlyn Payne with 12.
Timothy Christian 55, Proviso West 37: Lindsey VanderBrug scored 14 points with 10 rebounds and Katie Dirkse had 12 points in the nonconference game at Timothy Christian (8-5).
Boys basketball
Glenbard East 69, West Chicago 57: In Lombard, Derak Stanback made three 3-pointers and led all scorers with 24 points to keep host Glenbard East unbeaten in the DuPage Valley Conference. Jack Merrithey, Chris Sanders and Tom Seagraves added 10 points apiece for Glenbard East (7-2, 4-0). West Chicago (0-10, 0-4) was led by Clark Hudmon with 13 points, Casey Camp with 11 and Tyler Wrzesinski with 10.