Basketball: Glenbard South girls, Glenbard East boys win rivalry games to maintain Upstate Eight leads
The performance of the Glenbard South girls basketball team Friday night against visiting Glenbard East was like a cruise ship gliding through the peaceful waters of the Pacific.
In other words, smooth sailing all the way.
In a matchup between two teams at the top of the Upstate Eight standings, both undefeated in conference, the Raiders coasted to a 55-23 victory.
The contest was the first game of a girls/boys doubleheader in Glen Ellyn.
Senior Callie Hardtke scored 10 points in the first period to pace Glenbard South to a hot start, while classmate Kate Bruhl had 5 rebounds in the initial stanza.
The Raiders (15-4, 6-0) led 15-6 after one, and 33-13 at halftime.
Jordan Bailey led Glenbard South with 16 points, while Hardtke added 12, and teammate Jamie Mizwicki tallied 11. Bruhl finished with 8 points and 8 boards.
“We wanted to come out really strong (tonight),” said Bruhl, “and I think we did that.”
The home team was exceptional on the defensive end against their rivals.
“We worked as a team on defense," added Bruhl. "If everyone is sprinting everywhere, it’s OK to make mistakes. That’s a big priority for us.”
Sophomore guard Olivia Nee paced Glenbard East (12-6, 6-1) with 9 points.
“They (Glenbard South) came out with a lot of intensity,” said Glenbard East coach Nicole Miller. “And we weren’t able to execute. They forced a lot of turnovers.”
Bailey hit a 3-pointer for the Raiders out of the halftime break, and Glenbard South outscored the Rams 13-6 in the third quarter to put the game on ice.
Most of the starters played only three periods as the benches for both teams got extended playing time.
“We have to pick up our level of intensity and learn to handle the pressure,” added Miller about the rest of the season. “We’ll be working harder in practice on those type of situations.
“We don’t face that kind of pressure a lot in our conference, so it’s tough to get that really, really high level all the time.”
Boys game
Glenbard East 63, Glenbard South 50: In the nightcap, Michael Nee, Olivia’s older brother, scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Glenbard East boys team to a 63-50 win over Glenbard South.
With the triumph, the Rams stayed atop the Upstate Eight East with a perfect 7-0 record. They also improved overall to 15-2 on the season.
“A rivalry, and we live for this,” said Nee, a 6-3 senior guard. “We mark this game on the calendar at the start of the year.
“Just a great atmosphere, and when you play games like this, you know it’s special. I think (the difference in the game tonight) was our intensity. In a rivalry game, you never know what's going to happen, and our coach told us to make sure to bring that intensity, rebound, defend, and play together."
The Rams led by double-digits for much of the contest, but Glenbard South (9-6, 3-2) closed to within five midway through the third after buckets from Amir Jackson and Sean Reese (team-high 17 points).
But Glenbard East was able to pull away down the stretch, paced by the scoring of Danny Snyder and Jacob Marynowski (13 points apiece), and the inside play of 6-6 senior Sam Walton (4 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocked shots.).
Junior Will Sieck scored 11 for Glenbard South, and despite the outcome, Raiders senior PJ Lehr was proud of the way his squad competed.
"I'm happy that we came out with the energy," he said. "We played hard for all 32 minutes. (This shows) that we can compete with one of the top teams in the state. We can compete with anybody."