Glenbard West handles Willowbrook
With Tuesday’s victory secured Glenbard West coach Mike Hofland took senior center Cayla Herbst out of the game with a couple of minutes to play and pointed her straight to the team athletic trainer.
She had earned that ice pack on her injured left knee.
Herbst scored 15 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and blocked 8 Willowbrook shots in the Hilltoppers’ 52-39 nonconference triumph in Glen Ellyn.
“Just missed that triple-double,” Hofland said. “It was nice to be able to get her out and get some ice on that knee. I haven’t been able to do that much this year. But she’s an outstanding player. We’re enjoying every minute we have her.”
The 6-foot-2 Herbst suffered a torn meniscus Dec. 4 against Oak Park and missed the next three games, all Glenbard West losses.
“Cayla had an amazing game,” Hilltoppers senior guard Lauren Davis said. “We definitely look to her in the post.”
Willowbrook (6-16) used its stifling full-court press to jump out to a 9-4 lead early, but Glenbard West (10-11) went on a 14-2 run, taking its first lead on Abby Keirnan’s 3-pointer with 1:25 remaining in the first quarter.
But the Hilltoppers couldn’t shake the Warriors and led by 4 at halftime.
“We were a little frantic with the traps coming at us and the press in the beginning,” Davis said. “We tend to get nervous a little bit.”
“When we play our press well, it’s hard to get through and we get a lot of steals,” Willowbrook coach Terry Harrell said. “We didn’t finish a lot off them.”
Glenbard West finally got some breathing room in the fourth quarter, opening with an 8-1 run, with Davis’ three-point play giving the Hilltoppers their first double-digit lead at 45-34 with 4:25 to go.
Cherise Porter’s two free throws cut the margin back to single digits, but only briefly.
Davis added 13 points for Glenbard West. All nine players who saw action for Willowbrook scored, Ellen Wright and Jenna Dalton leading the way with 7 points apiece.