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Girls basketball: Barker’s 26 points help Maine South avenge Glenbrook South loss, tie for CSL South lead

Friday night's Central Suburban South clash between first-place Glenbrook South and second place Maine South couldn't have had a simpler set of implications prior to tipoff.

If Scott Nemecek's Titans could leave Park Ridge with a season sweep it would take a commanding two-game in CSL South play with three games left on the conference slate.

However, if Jeff Hamann's Hawks could avenge their eight-point road loss from the previous month in Glenview it could get into a first-place tie with GBS.

Plus, throw in the added factor of staying in the hunt for a Top 3 seed in the Class 4A Glenbrook South Sectional complex gave this contest an extra special incentive for both squads to obtain a win in front of a near-capacity crowd in Park Ridge.

Thanks to a pair of first half runs, the home team Hawks successfully avenged their December loss with a dominant 54-35 win that brings them into a share of the CSL South lead at 6-1 with the visiting Titans.

Perhaps even more so for the Hawks (18-4), the win could be credited in large part to the long-distance proficiency of 5-foot-10 senior guard Katie Barker whose second of 6 three-pointers in the first half ignited what became the decisive surge. Maine South finished the first quarter with a 10-0 run that gave them a 15-7 lead.

After four straight free throws by the Titans (15-6) closed the gap to 15-11 at the 6:49 mark of the period, the Hawks would go on a 15-1 tear powered by a trio of Barker treys and by their ability to turn off Glenbrook South's offensive power. The Titans missed all 12 shots in the quarter and hit just 2 of 25 in the half as Maine South took a commanding 30-12 advantage into the break.

Barker finished with a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds.

"Obviously we lost last time we played them and we had a lot of passion going into this game wanting revenge,“ Barker said. ”Our energy before the game was great. This is a big boost for our confidence. We started out a little rocky, but we've learned from our mistakes and used that as motivation."

The Titans would get no closer than 38-23 on a drive into the lane from Gina Davorija with 2:10 left in the third that made it a 38-23 Maine South lead.

Davorija, a DePaul recruit, led Glenbrook South with 16 points as it finished the night going 9 for 41 (21%) from the floor.

Fellow Hawks senior Ally Pape, a Cornell recruit, added 13 points and 7 rebounds.

"We strive to play our best basketball late January into February,“ Hawks coach Jeff Hamann said. ”We had some losses early in the season that were unfortunate, but we're beginning to learn from those. We have some difficult tests coming up from (some) really, really, good teams that we hope will prepare us for the postseason."

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