Glenbard West getting back to having fun again
Suddenly, basketball is a blast again for Glenbard West.
After winning their first seven games to start the season, then going through a 1-4 stretch, the Hilltoppers appear to have found what was missing, winning their second game in the Naperville North/Benet Holiday Tournament 69-53 Friday night against host Naperville North.
"We recognize that we played pretty badly," senior guard Abbey White said of the team's slump. "When we played against Hinsdale (Central, a 57-36 loss last Saturday) we could have done so much better. We just weren't ready to play.
"But we had a talk as a team and we all came together - talked about what was wrong and our issues or whatever - and we just suddenly started playing really well. It was great. We just started moving the ball better, and we were crashing the boards. Everything just started working."
The Hilltoppers' bad times coincided with the loss to injury of senior post player Abby Hastings, who returned for this tournament.
"It's great to be playing again and to be playing like a team again too, to see the girls working hard," said Hastings, who scored 6 points off the bench.
"It's definitely a lot more fun. I love these girls, I love playing with them. When we do well, it's so exciting. It's just a blast."
"She's definitely a big force on our team," White added about Hastings.
The difference shows.
"We were struggling a little bit," Hilltoppers coach Mike Hofland said. "One of our leaders (Hastings) went down, and a couple of people were trying too hard to pick up the pieces without her, and there was just some tension. And there was some tension on my part. I got a little more anxious with them, and I was a little quick to jump the gun on them, and that's what we talked about."
That tension looked gone against Naperville North, especially in the first half, when the Hilltoppers poured in 44 points.
"They're a really good team," Huskies coach Jacquie Discipio said. "I felt like we ran every zone defense that we had in the first quarter and then we stuck man, which we had to do. But they shoot from the inside, they shoot from the outside. They're a really good team."
White led the Hilltoppers (10-4) with 13 points, Cayla Herbst added 12, Nicole Hazemi 10 and Bridget Flanagan 9.
Huskies freshman Bria Walker made four 3-pointers off the bench to lead all scorers with 19 points, and but the young Huskies (2-8) couldn't find a way to stop the Hilltoppers.
"I've used this analogy before, but I feel like I'm a plate spinner," Discipio said. "One day we'll get our offense going but we can't get our defense, or we'll get our defense going and can't get our offense. Today our offense was pretty good, so I'm pretty pleased with that overall."
It didn't help the Huskies that sophomore guard Shannon Bushman stayed on the bench with an ankle injury.
"Shannon being out is a huge loss to us because she brings a level of competitiveness and edge and she facilitates our offense exceptionally well, so having her not here tonight hurts offensively, but also defensively," Discipio said. "We're hoping to get her back (tonight against Providence), which will be a big game for us."