Girls basketball: Glenbard South loses to Trinity in Class 3A supersectional

Glenbard South came into Monday night’s IHSA Class 3A girls basketball supersectional against Trinity at Concordia University in River Forest on a roll, having won 15 consecutive games.

The Raiders had designs on making it 16 in a row while punching their ticket to state. But the Blazers had other ideas, using a 10-0 fourth-quarter run to pull away for a 50-36 victory. Trinity clinched its first trip to the state finals since 2016, when it finished third in Class 3A under current Nazareth coach Ed Stritzel.

Glenbard South coach Eric Daca felt Trinity’s length and athleticism were major factors in the outcome.

“They’re a great team. They’ve got a lot of length, a lot of height, they’re athletic,” he said. “We just struggled to get shots to fall tonight. We struggled a little bit from the free-throw line. Our defense was really good, we worked hard but sometimes there’d be a breakdown and they’d get a bucket, then we’d come down and struggle to score.”

Glenbard South (29-5) shot just 10-of-40 from the floor and made 14-of-28 free throws. The Raiders made only two 3-pointers, and the first didn’t come until 2:50 left in the game from Jamie Mizwicki.

Also problematic for Glenbard South was a short rotation. Until the final minute, the Raiders primarily used six players: starters Mizwicki, Jordan Bailey Kate Bruhl, Rheayanna Ferguson and Callie Hardtke, plus Julia Alcala off the bench.

“We played with a short bench tonight,” Daca said. “On a longer court against an athletic team, that made it hard.”

Glenbard South trailed Trinity 9-4 after a quarter, then 17-10 at halftime despite just three first-half baskets. But the Raiders hung around in the third quarter thanks to Bailey. The freshman scored eight of her game-high 15 points in the third quarter.

Glenbard South entered the fourth quarter trailing 30-23 and scored the first three points as the Raiders looked to make a push. But Trinity (25-10) went on a quick 7-0 run to take control, and Glenbard South couldn’t draw closer than nine the rest of the way.

Chloe Santos led Trinity with 14 points. Keyera Gamble had 10 points and 16 rebounds and Zaria Goins and Destiny Sacluti each added eight points for the Blazers.

“I can’t even put it into words,” Trinity coach Kim Coleman said. “It’s been eight long years pushing these kids, not just this group but the ones that came before them. There are so many people who put so much work into the program. They believed in our vision.”

In her final game, Mizwicki, a senior, ended up with eight points.

Despite the loss, Daca praised his seven seniors, who won over 110 games in their four seasons.

“It’s a great group. They’re going to be sorely missed,” he said. “They set a standard and now all of our lower levels have to rise to that standard.”

Daca added that he believes the future is bright for the program. Alcala, a sophomore, Bailey, and juniors Bella Beltran and Kaitlin Erickson — who missed the season due to injury — are scheduled to return.

“We’ve got some pieces in place,” he said. “They’ve got a taste of this, and hopefully with all the incoming players to the varsity, they can help them get to this level as well.”