Glenbard South 57, Yorkville 33

So much for the post-holiday blues for the Glenbard South girls basketball team.

Playing their first game of the new year, the Raiders bolted ahead of Yorkville 13-1 and breezed to a 57-33 Western Sun Conference win Friday night in Glen Ellyn.

Glenbard South coach Julie Fonda was concerned how her team would play in its first outing since finishing fourth in Wheaton North's Bill Neibch Falcon Classic.

"We had four days off," Fonda said. "We practiced, but it's not the same."

The Raiders (12-6, 4-3) showed signs of rust with a handful of early turnovers but then began to roll.

Senior guard Nikki Simpson opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, quickly drained another shot from beyond the arc and then stole the ball and converted the breakaway layup to spark Glenbard South to its 13-1 burst.

"She loves our home floor," Fonda said of Simpson. "She doesn't always shoot well away, but when she gets home and finds her spot, she does a nice job of setting her feet, and she's comfortable here so that makes a big difference for her."

"I like shooting on the home court because I'm comfortable with it, I'm used to it," Simpson said. "I get my groove."

Simpson finished with a game-high 12 points, all coming in the first half as the Raiders held a 27-20 advantage at the break.

Glenbard South blew open the game with a 13-0 spree to start the second half, which produced a 40-20 lead.

Maja Despot and Alicia Engelhardt used their height advantage to record 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the winners.

"The post players did a nice job of getting open," Fonda said.

Yorkville (5-10, 1-4) was led by Sarah O'Leary's 11.

The Foxes shot just 20 percent from the field compared to Glenbard South's 38 percent, and they committed 37 turnovers.

"We didn't shoot well and they just have so much size on us," Yorkville coach Tim Peters said. "When they weren't hitting from the outside, they just dumped it in and could shoot it over the top of us on the inside."

The Raiders hope to parlay their somewhat surprising showing at the Wheaton North tourney into a successful second half.

"I think it showed us that we can compete with bigger schools and that we have the capability to go places," Simpson said. "We're a good team."