Girls basketball: Maine South, Loyola win nail-biters to advance to sectional final
Tuesday night's second semifinal in the Class 4A Glenbrook North sectional pitted a pair of Central Suburban South rivals in second-seeded Maine South and third seed Glenbrook South.
The teams had split their two division games during the regular season with each having successfully defending their home courts.
Now they took the rubber match up to Northbrook seeking a spot in Thursday's final which would be a tall task if you were to ask Maine South coach Jeff Hamann.
"They're a great team,“ Hamann said. ”They're well-coached. They have a lot of good players. (DePaul-bound guard) Gina Davorija is a special talent. We have our work cut out for us."
And indeed it would take a ton of hard work but they rallied to earn a 54-51 victory to advance to Thursday when they will face top-seeded Loyola who needed overtime to extinguish a strong challenge from the No. 4 section host 46-40 in game one.
Vanderbilt recruit Aubrey Galvan paced the Ramblers (32-2) as the senior guard had a game-high 21 points followed by sophomore forward Emily Naraky's 13 as they outscored the Spartans (24-7) 8-2 in the extra session.
"That's what it's all about. You saw the game before us. Credit to Loyola," Hamann said. "This time of the year at the state tournament when both teams are really, really good teams. For us to gut out this win, we'll take it. We're excited for the opportunity Thursday.“
The Hawks (25-9) saw an early 19-8 second quarter lead and a 27-21 halftime advantage go by the wayside as GBS outscored them 19-9 in the third to take a 40-36 lead into the fourth which featured a 12-4 surge over the final 3:16 of the period.
It would then take the return of Maine South senior sharpshooter Katie Barker's beyond the arc skills. She connected on back-to-back treys after having missed her first nine attempts in the contest that put the Hawks ahead 50-49 with 2:08 to play.
A pair of charity tosses from senior teammate Ally Pape (team-high 17 points) were wrapped around a rebound putback by senior guard Maria Konstantopoulis (10 points) for GBS that put the Hawks back up to stay 52-51 with 44 ticks left.
"I was having it rough shooting at the beginning," said Barker, who finished with 8 points along with sophomore guard Hayden Fahy. "But I just got to keep shooting. It's all mental. I know it would've been worse if I didn't take the open shots. I just kind've stayed in my groove."
Asia Kobylarczyk (9 points) added two more free throws for the final margin of victory as the Titans (24-10) missed a layup and Davorija (game-high 20 points) had a three-pointer stuffed out by junior Hawk forward Emily Curry at the buzzer.