Glenbard East takes UEC lead over Glenbard South on Carney’s game-winner

There were plenty of highlights coming out of Saturday afternoon's Glenbard East at Glenbard South girls basketball game, most going to the Rams.

The game had major implications with the two teams tied for first in the Upstate Eight Conference at 9-0. At the end, the Rams had sole possession of first place thanks to a 39-38 victory.

Senior Catey Carney hit net for two points with just six seconds left to give East its final margin.

"This is a nice feeling. It (winning conference) is something we are striving for,“ said Glenbard East coach Nicole Miller. "We want to win conference and work every day to do that."

The two squads battle again on Feb. 2 at East.

Carney was game-high scorer with 21 points. It was an even bigger day for her as she needed just seven points to become the Rams' all-time leading scorer.

Carney surpassed Lauren Huber who is in her junior season at Illinois Wesleyan University. The two are former teammates with Huber being a senior at the time and Carney a freshman at East.

"It's really exciting. I've put in a lot of work," Carney said of breaking the record.

The Rams (15-6) dominated the first half, but the Raiders (13-7) found their groove in the second half.

Glenbard South freshman Kaitlin Erickson's basket gave her team a 35-34 lead in the fourth quarter, the first advantage for the Raiders since the first few minutes of the contest.

Brooklynn Moore's layup put South up 37-34. Moore led her team with 12 points.

A 3-pointer by Carney tied the game at 37 before Allie Mizwicki's free throw put South up for the final time at 38-37 with 17.7 seconds left, setting the stage for Carney.

"We felt that we were starting to fall apart. We said we need to stay level-headed and don't let their lead get too big," Carney said.

Ciara Johnson followed on the Glenbard East scoresheet with nine points including two 3-pointers.

Mizwicki followed Moore in the Glenbard South offense with nine points.

"I thought we did a better job in the second half getting into the paint through driving and attack or post players," Raiders coach Eric Daca said.

Daca said the Feb. 2 rematch will be on the team's mind, but that plenty of business remains to be done before then.

"This was a huge game. But our job now is to take care of the next game on the schedule. We look forward to playing East but can't look past anybody," he said.