Glenbard E. tops Geneva for fifth-place Oswego finish
Never mind the Vikings placed sixth overall at Oswego's Holiday Classic Saturday. Where the team placed in the end was not something a huge concern for coach Gina Nolan, whose team fell to Glenbard East 56-51.
"It's not about the place for us, it's about trying to get better as a team and trying to find the right combination of people on the floor," Nolan said. "Just learning and growing. We've had three close games here, and that's what helps down the road. That's what it's all about for us."
Glenbard East, however, was incredibly happy with its fifth-place effort and improved to 7-7 overall.
"That was definitely a good game for us," Glenbard East coach Nicole Miller said. "We had some ups and downs this week, so it was nice to come out. Both teams played really hard and battled from the tip-off. It was a fun game to coach and I thought the kids played really well."
The Vikings were playing without starting guard Emily Hinchman, who twisted her left ankle against Batavia Friday.
"It hurt not to have Emily out there, but that's part of the game," Nolan said. "But other people stepped up and played well."
The game was close all the way through. At the break, the Rams led 26-25.
After several ties in the third, Glenbard East was up 42-41 after three quarters.
Glenbard East's largest lead of the second half was 56-49 after a pair of free throws from Jackie Foreman with 18.5 seconds left in the game.
"It was a battle, and that's a great type of game to play in," Nolan said. "But again, it was a good experience and I'm glad we played a nonconference team versus playing a conference team, so that was good."
Taylor Whitley, Geneva's lone all-tournament team member, led the way with 21 points while Lauren Wicinski added 10 for the Vikings (11-4).
Benet 45, DeKalb 24: Nikki Bell netted 14 points and Katie Dunn added 10 for the host Redwings (5-10), who moved to 2-1 in the Benet/Naperville North Holiday Tournament.
Benet outscored DeKalb 16-7 in the second quarter to take a 25-12 lead.
The winners made 9 of 11 free throws.
St. Joseph 38, Naperville North 31: St. Joseph outscored the host 12-5 in the fourth quarter to pull out the game in the Benet/Naperville North Holiday Tournament.
Lauren Quinn, Courtney Cheatham and Kaelyn Witkowski led Naperville North (2-11) with 6 points apiece.
Hinsdale South 47, St. Viator 40: Chloe Harris collected 13 points and 8 rebounds, while Jessica Carlson contributed 12 points and 6 steals to lead the Hornets (10-5) to victory in the Season End Tournament.
Hinsdale South recovered from a 14-9 deficit at the end of one quarter.