First-quarter charge lifts Glenbard West past St. Francis

If only the game had started in the second quarter, host Glenbard West and St. Francis would have gone into overtime in Wednesday's season opener for both teams.

Unfortunately for St. Francis, the much taller Hilltoppers jumped to a 19-4 first-quarter lead and went on to defeat the Spartans 58-44.

Glenbard West guard Abbey White led that first-quarter charge, scoring all 10 of her points as the Hilltoppers established the cushion they needed to withstand several St. Francis mini-runs that threatened to make a game of it.

The Spartans cut the deficit to 7 in the second quarter and then to 8 points at the end of the third quarter.

"We had a hard time getting started," said St. Francis coach Jeff Gerdeman. "If you look at the second quarter on, we did pretty well. But we dug ourselves too much of a hole."

The Hilltoppers outrebounded the Spartans 19-7 in the first half.

For Glenbard West, starting center Cayla Herbst and reserve guard Alex Capeles were outstanding.

Herbst dominated the boards with a game-high 12 rebounds, 8 of them on offense, and completed her double-double with a game-high 16 points.

"I just went hard to the basket on every shot, whether it was going in or not," Herbst said. "Our defense could have been stronger tonight, but it's the first game of the season, and we expect to do better."

Capeles had 12 points including a trio of 3-pointers, 7 rebounds and 3 steals.

"Herbst just plays with confidence," said Glenbard West coach Mike Hofland. "And for Capeles it was a coming-out party. She's put a lot of time in to improve her game and she did a nice job on offense and defense."

Hofland was unhappy that the team's impatience contributed to its inability to completely put the Spartans away after the strong first quarter.

"When we ran our offense and were patient with the ball, we got good looks," Hofland said. "But we forced it too much. Maybe that's because it was the first game. But we have kids who have played a lot of basketball and they should know better. They just have to learn to trust each other."

Fiona McMahon, the Spartans' only 6-footer, had a strong game with a team-high 15 points, 9 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

McMahon scored 8 and Slavin put in 7 in the last quarter as the Spartans made a last-ditch effort to get back in the game.

"We're trying to run a new up-tempo run-and-press system," Gerdeman said. "When it was working we made them uncomfortable and kept them a little rattled. That's the way we want to play."