Girls basketball: Austin leads Glenbard West past WW South
Mya Austin is one of only two seniors on the roster this season for Glenbard West, and the only one in the starting lineup.
Thursday night against Wheaton Warrenville South, in a Class 4A regional final girls basketball game on the Hilltoppers’ home court, her experience and gritty play down the stretch led her team to a regional title.
Austin scored 6 of her game-high 16 points in the final minute of the game, and had a key offensive rebound with 27 seconds remaining that shut the door on the Tigers in a 58-51 Glenbard West victory.
The top-seeded Hilltoppers move on to face fourth-seeded St. Charles North in a Bartlett sectional semifinal at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The North Stars defeated York 48-46.
“Being one of only two seniors on the team is really special,” said Austin. “I know a lot of people look up to me so I wanted to finish the game strong and play my heart out, show everyone what it’s like.”
WW South, the eighth seed, played a terrific game and rallied from 12 points down late in the third quarter to tie the game in the fourth and put pressure on the Hilltoppers.
Marley Carbonaro and Abby Keighron paced the Tigers with 15 points apiece.
“The kids fought extremely hard,” said WW South coach Kasey Gassensmith, “and I’m extremely proud of them. They just consistently work hard and keep believing. We were down (by 12) at one point and they just fought and clawed their way back in.
“Just so proud of how hard they fight. That’s one thing I’ll always give them.”
Molly O’Connell, the other senior for Glenbard West, said it did quickly flash through her mind down the stretch, during the WW South comeback, that she might be playing her final high school game. But that thought was quickly rejected.
“We’re like a family,” she said, “and we work so hard in practice every day. I knew we were going to pull through because we’ve done so much prep in practice on game situations.”
Glenbard West opened a 36-24 lead in the third stanza, helped by a 4-point play from junior Nina Hendricksen (13 points).
Then WW South (16-17) stormed back in the fourth and tied the contest at 48. The score stood at 53-51 Hilltoppers with 27 seconds remaining, when Austin split defenders and rebounded a missed free throw by teammate Ellie Noble.
She was fouled, and calmly swished through 2 free throws to make it 55-51.
“I feel like (WW South) rebounded well against us all night, that was their game plan,” Austin said. “I felt like I had to get that board, like I should have done all night. It didn’t matter who was in my way, it was so important.”
The Tigers misfired on a couple layup attempts in the final seconds, and Glenbard West (27-4) closed out the game at the free throw line.
Junior Sophia Evans scored 9 points off the bench for the Hilltoppers, while Noble came up clutch in the final minute and finished with 8.
Glenbard West coach Kristi Faulkner said she appreciated Austin’s game-long effort.
“She was outstanding tonight,” Faulkner said. “She’s a four-year varsity kid who gives so much to the team, both as a captain and what you saw tonight in big moments. She just wanted that rebound, wanted to finish out the game strong and her energy was tremendous for us.”