Glenbard South handles St. Charles East
Nevena Markovic said Glenbard South is out to prove itself this week at Wheaton North.
Consider Monday a good start.
The fourth-seeded Raiders raced out to a 16-point lead after a quarter and coasted to a 63-45 win over St. Charles East in the first round of the Bill Neibch Falcon Holiday Classic.
Markovic had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists for Glenbard South (11-1), whose best finish at Wheaton North under coach Julie Fonda was fifth in 2007.
“We do have a little bit of a chip on our shoulder,” Markovic said. “We want to prove to everybody that we can play with anybody.”
The unselfish Raiders consistently made the extra pass early, resulting in sizzling shooting out of the gate. Glenbard South shot 9 of 13 in the first quarter. Markovic had 7 points early, Sarah Engelhardt 6 and Patrice Hicks 4.
Markovic, an exceptional passer for a girl standing 6-foot-4, had 3 assists in the first half. It was no accident.
“We worked a lot at practice on Saturday on passing, looking for the open person,” Markovic said. “It worked out today.”
It was 21-5 after an impressive first eight minutes, and the lead bulged to 33-10 midway through the second quarter.
“Our press and our first quarter was fantastic,” Fonda said. “They set the tone early.”
St. Charles East (3-9) struggled mightily in the game's early stages against Glenbard South's full-court pressure.
The Saints turned the ball over on their first four possessions. Hicks' turnaround jumper off the fourth turnover made it 8-0 just more than two minutes in.
“They get their hands on a lot of balls,” St. Charles East coach Lori Drumtra said, “so if they don't flat-out steal it they disrupt your offense by tipping it. I was disappointed with the way we started out. I thought we came out a little tentative. We knew they were going to pressure the ball and we've faced that kind of pressure before.”
Dani Asquini scored 13 points, Morgan Vyzral 11 and freshman Amanda Hilton 7 for St. Charles East, which should get a boost today with the return of sophomore Paige Jordan from a hand injury. Jordan, one of three Saints sophomores, scored 31 points in a win over Rockford Boylan in the season's first week.
“It's a growing process, and I feel like we are making strides,” Drumtra said. “I thought our girls did a much better job today down the stretch.”
Engelhardt finished with 10 points, Danielle Chitkowski 8 and Hannah Kelly 8 for Glenbard South. The Raiders advance to play Glenbrook South in today's 6 p.m. quarterfinal.
“We're probably the smallest school here by 500 kids or so,” Fonda said. “That's something in the back of our minds, that day in and day out we have to prove ourselves. We have to come to play. The girls definitely want to prove that we're a team to contend with.”