Glenbard North downs Willowbrook

Glenbard North's girls basketball team found the key to breaking Willowbrook's zone defense and opened its season with a 51-45 home win on Tuesday.

The Panthers erased an 8-point halftime deficit as they began to split the Warriors's aggressive 1-3-1 zone defense that had previously held them in check.

“I stayed with the zone a little too long,” said Willowbrook coach Terry Harrell. “I let (Glenbard North) warm up from the perimeter. We still could have caught up, but we just didn't finish.”

The Warriors trailed 48-45 with just more than a minute left in regulation. As Willowbrook attempted to push the ball upcourt for a transition basket, it ended up turning the ball over and back to the Panthers.

Glenbard North senior center Cheryl Smith was fouled in the act of shooting on the other end. After Smith made 1 of 2 free-throw attempts, she hustled back on defense and blocked a Willowbrook layup attempt to seal the victory.

Smith finished the game with 3 blocks, 4 rebounds and 3 points.

“I knew if I fouled them it wouldn't help, but if I let them score it would have been worse, so I went for the block,” Smith said. “My main goal was to stop everyone by blocking them and getting defensive rebounds out to my team.”

The Warriors were led by senior Ellen Wright's 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc in the first half.

Willowbrook's defense allowed just 6 points in the second quarter. The difficult first half for Glenbard North ended with Wright drilling a buzzer beating 2-pointer.

Wright finished with 13 first-half points and became the focus of Glenbard North's defense at halftime.

“We came out at halftime saying we had to identify (Wright),” said Glenbard coach John Chamberlain.

The Panthers' offense responded to the zone defense in the third quarter with dribble penetrations and kick-out 3-pointers. The end result was a 19-point third quarter that well exceeded the offensive output of the Panthers' second quarter.

“Confidence is something that's really important with girls, and you get it with results,” Chamberlain said.

Glenbard North senior forward Carson Jones led all scorers by finishing the game with 15 points. Along with Jones, sophomore guard Amy Falson help create second-half separation from the Warriors.

Falson scored 11 points including a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter as the Warriors jumped out to the season-opening win.

“I think our intensity is a lot better than last year,” Smith said. “This year we are all more trustworthy of each other.”