Glenbard West rebounds to claim crown

Caitlin Soane and Glenbard West have a tried and true solution for any zone defense thrown their way:

Attack the offensive glass. Hard. And then score.

Tournament Most Valuable Player Soane scored 14 points with 11 rebounds, and the 19th-ranked Hilltoppers turned 19 offensive rebounds into 27 second-chance points to beat Glenbard South 38-27 for the championship of the 16th Rachel Bach Memorial Tournament in Lombard.

"The putbacks, they really helped us," Soane said. "Our coaches say to go crash the boards and always try to get second shots."

Glenbard West (4-0), which won the tournament for the second time in three years, was held shy of 40 points for the first time, missed its first dozen 3-point shots and struggled particularly early against Glenbard South's scrappy, scrambling pressure.

The board work of Soane, Becca Folan, Natalie Noland and Co. turned the tide.

"Our kids understand that when teams are in zone it's hard to box out. You lose sight of girls," Hilltoppers coach Mike Hofland said. "We have a lot of movement this year that we're really encouraging. We got girls flying all over the place and we got some athletes going in hard."

Glenbard South (3-2), starting two sophomores and a freshman, set a frenetic pace early and led 13-11 with 4:51 left in the first half after a 3-pointer by freshman Ivana Markovic.

Glenbard West closed the half on a 13-2 run, capped by an Abby Keirnan 3-pointer on a second-chance opportunity for a 24-15 intermission lead. Soane had 6 points and an assist and Noland a pair of baskets during the momentum-shifting stretch.

Glenbard South never drew closer than 7 thereafter.

"I don't want to make any excuses, but it's our third game in a row, and my girls are tired," Raiders coach Julie Fonda said. "It's the mental mistakes that go first when you forget to box out and get in position to box out. Glenbard West really crashed the boards tonight. I might have said that 1,000 times during timeouts."

Freshman Sydney Bauman had 8 points, 6 in the first half, and 7 rebounds for the Raiders. Patrice Hicks, hurt by foul trouble and still working herself into basketball shape, added 6 points and 5 rebounds.

Fonda's good feelings about her young team didn't budge a bit.

"I'm really happy with where we stand. They're getting better every game," Fonda said. "There were points of brilliance, and then there's the flip side."

Folan added 8 points and 6 rebounds 5 at the offensive end for Glenbard West, and Noland had 6 points and 3 rebounds.

"I thought tonight we were not as secure with the ball as we have been all tournament," Hofland said, "and that's a credit to Julie and her team. They play hard. It gets physical. That's the way both teams play, and it gets a little ugly. Their press gave us fits, and once we were able to balance stuff out we were finally able to get our composure."