Bounce-back continues for Glenbard West
After opening the season with 5 straight wins, Glenbard West’s girls basketball team had dropped 16 of its next 19 games before finishing the regular season with a pair of victories.
Suddenly, the Hilltoppers (11-16) find themselves with a 3-game winning streak following Monday night’s 48-27 victory over 18th-seeded St. Charles North in the opening round of the Class 4A Bartlett regional tournament.
Thanks in part to a more concerted effort on the glass, the 16th-seeded Hilltoppers owned a 45-24 rebounding advantage while limiting the North Stars to 24 percent (10-for-41) shooting from the field.
“We’ve been working a lot on that because we’ve been getting out-rebounded,” said Glenbard West coach Mike Hofland. “I think the girls did a real nice job. We looked like the team that started the year — going after offensive rebounds.
“We didn’t hit a lot of shots when we got them,” added Hofland, “but it’s kind of deflating to a team when you keep getting offensive rebounds.”
Natalie Noland came off the bench to score 9 points and grab 7 rebounds, while senior guard Claire Riley added 9 points, 7 boards, and 5 steals, and 6-3 junior center Caitlin Soane had 7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists, and 3 blocked shots for the Hilltoppers, who built a 25-14 halftime lead.
“We played really well defensively,” said Soane. “That’s what we were working on all week. We were more aggressive and more excited.”
Becca Folan recorded a game-high 10 rebounds for the Hilltoppers, who take on top-seeded Bartlett (25-1) in tonight’s regional semifinals.
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” said Hofland.
After trimming a 9-point deficit to 19-14 on a pair of baskets from freshman guard Sam Novak late in the second quarter, St. Charles North was held scoreless for the next 8½ minutes.
An 8-0 run over the first six minutes of the third quarter enabled Glenbard West to extend its lead to 33-14, and the North Stars could get no closer than 12 the rest of the way.
Playing in her first postseason game, Novak led all scorers with 12 points.
“She had a huge game,” North Stars coach Colleen Brennan said of Novak. “She wanted to win. She has stepped up as a leader the last couple games and just kind of came into her own. She’s a real talented kid who is going to develop a lot more.”
St. Charles North forced the Hilltoppers into 25 turnovers, with 11 of them coming in the third quarter.
“At times, our pressure looked really good,” said Brennan. “We had some extra opportunities but we didn’t score out of any of the turnovers that we caused. We had a really, really hard time scoring tonight.”
The North Stars finished 8-21 for the season.
“We got a lot of experience for a lot of kids,” said Brennan. “We walked into the season with just two kids who had seen the varsity court before so many of the kids will have a lot of experience next year.”