Glenbard South stays on even keel against Fenton

Fenton did well the odd quarters, but Glenbard South was even better in the evens.

The result was a 46-29 Metro Suburban Conference victory Friday night for the Raiders, though the margin of victory was no consolation for their coach.

"I wanted Ridgewood to open up the paper tomorrow or Timothy (Christian) to open up the paper tomorrow and be like, 'Wow, we've got to play them next week,'" said Raiders coach Julie Fonda, concerned with her players' lack of intensity during the game. "They're not going to do that. They're going to open up the paper tomorrow and there's going to be hope."

An 11-point first quarter by junior guard Taylor Pugliese, including three 3-pointers, helped Fenton (10-12, 3-5) stay in the game, trailing only 16-13 after eight minutes. But the Bison suffered through a 1-point second quarter as the Raiders took a 29-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.

After a Sarah Engelhardt basket gave the Raiders (18-3, 7-0) a 20-point lead, Kristin Wood ended Fenton's long drought with a fastbreak layup with 4:19 to play in the third quarter. That started a 10-0 Bison run to finish the period.

"We had to fight for everything," Fenton coach Tim Anderson said. "We knew we were going to have to and we did. We made a couple of runs at them there in the beginning and the third quarter, but I'm happy with how our kids played."

Fonda wasn't so happy, and that third quarter was a big reason for it.

"I feel like we went through the motions for most of the game," Fonda added. "We did what we had to to win. Your only hope as a coach is that instead of doing that, you play with intensity and passion and emotion for all four quarters. It's a little frustrating right now."

The Raiders again built their lead back to 20 points, keeping Fenton scoreless for the period until the 3:27 mark when Pugliese scored.

Glenbard South held a big edge on the backboards, outrebounding Fenton 29-14. The Bison played nobody taller than the 5-foot-9 Wood, while the Raiders had five players taller than that.

"We outsize them, so we should outrebound them," Fonda said.

Pugliese led Fenton with 13 points. Nevena Markovic had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for Glenbard South.

"It's tough," Anderson said. "Not only is she tough, but she passes well too. It's not just get her the ball, she feeds well. They're a very good team. It's no accident they're 18-3."

Alyse Cates added 11 points for Glenbard South, and Danielle Chitkowski had 10.