Girls basketball: West Aurora stymies Glenbard South in battle of Upstate Eight’s best
Take care of the basketball, play lockdown ‘D’, and shoot the lights out.
That was the second half recipe for success for West Aurora Tuesday night in a stunning 41-30 victory over visiting Glenbard South.
Sophomore Syncere Williams led the charge on offense for the Blackhawks after intermission, scoring all 13 of her points in the final two quarters.
And the West Aurora defense didn’t give up a second half field goal to the Raiders until 1:30 remained in the game.
The much anticipated crossover contest was a battle between the two division champions of the Upstate Eight Conference. Glenbard South had won the East with a 12-0 mark, while West Aurora went 12-1 to claim the West crown.
The Raiders led 19-17 at halftime, but the Blackhawks went on a 20-2 run between the third and fourth periods to put the game away.
“We had to turn it up,” said Williams of the talk between herself and her teammates during the halftime break. “I would say we had a good first half, but we weren’t being patient and our shots weren’t falling. We just had to work the ball a little more and score off of our offense.”
With the win, West Aurora (19-4) avenged an earlier season 53-45 defeat to Glenbard South.
“We had the energy coming in tonight,” said Williams of the turnaround. “We knew that we had to shift our focus to winning, work together, and not dwell on the past.”
It was just the third loss of the season for Glenbard South to go along with 25 victories. Their last loss came Dec. 28 to Waubonsie Valley in the championship game of Wheaton North’s holiday tournament. The Raiders saw their 11-game winning streak come to an end.
“We just couldn’t get any shots to drop, and they (West Aurora) were playing extremely tough defense,” said Glenbard South coach Eric Daca. “They were the aggressor today and got the better of us.”
Williams opened the third quarter with a layup then a 3-pointer, and the Blackhawks didn’t let up.
Senior Brooklynn Johnson scored 7 of her game-high 16 points in the fourth stanza, and a layup by Shiane Johnson saw West Aurora increase the lead to 37-21 with 2 minutes remaining.
Glenbard South fought back in the final 1:30 with three 3-pointers, 2 from Jamie Mizwicki (team-high 13 points).
But key free throws down the stretch from Williams and Brooklynn Johnson put the game out of reach.
“We had to pick up our defense tonight,” said Blackhawks coach Teresa Waldinger, “and make sure we were guarding the proper players. The girls did exactly that and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Daca said that his Raiders now will look forward to the postseason, where they were awarded the top seed in the Class 3A DePaul College Prep sectional.
“It’s tough that we closed the regular season with a loss,” Daca said, “but we still finished the regular season 25-3.
“When it comes to the playoffs, we know only one team finishes happy, and now we want to try to avoid that feeling of finishing with a loss. We’ll regroup and get after it in practice.”