Downers Grove North stifles Glenbard South
It will perhaps be many years before a girls basketball holiday tournament quarterfinal will approach the degree of peculiarity as the encounter between Downers Grove North and Glenbard South on Tuesday afternoon in Wheaton.
The Trojans advanced to the semifinals of the Bill Neibch Falcon Holiday Classic at Wheaton North with a 33-26 victory.
The Raiders, coming off an upset of third-seeded sister school Glenbard North in opening-round action, had only one player score in each of the first three quarters.
"We're offensively a challenged team; there's no doubt about that," first-year Glenbard South coach Morgan Kasperek said. "We have to do a better job of being aggressive."
Downers North (8-4) will meet fellow West suburban Silver rival Lyons Twp. in the first semifinal at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Kasperek, a star player on the 2002 Hinsdale Central Class AA champion, will face her old school in the fifth-place consolation bracket.
The Raiders (6-5) did not reach double figures until sophomore Ally Daca scored on a putback 70 seconds into the third quarter.
Glenbard South was limited to 5, 4 and 4 points in the first three quarters, respectively.
Payton Carli accounted for the entire first-quarter Glenbard South output with a 3-pointer and 2-point field goal.
Freshman Maggie Bair had the Raiders' pair of the field goals in the second quarter.
Daca scored the Raiders' only other field goal of the third quarter to close out the scoring.
But Downers North had its own offensive issues.
Leading 17-9 at halftime, the Trojans did not score from inside the 3-point line until Brigid Miller had a running one-hander in the lane with less than three minutes to play.
But Julia Kramper and Colleen Miller hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter for the Trojans' only points of the span.
In such a low-scoring contest, however, they were more like touchdowns than field goals.
Glenbard South equaled its entire first three-quarter output in the final quarter.
Carli, who had a game-high 11 points, hit the last of her three 3-pointers.
"Once we gained our composure, it was like two separate games," Carli said. "We were able to run our offensive through (in the fourth quarter). We gained our confidence in the second half and realized we could play with them."
Bair finished with 9 points for the Raiders.
Sophomore Sarah Cohen was the only other player to score for Glenbard South.
Downers North guard Lauren Porcelli applied the dagger with a three-point play with 2:02 to go.
"I think the 'and-one' was really exciting and brought the team up," Porcelli said. "I'm happy I could provide energy for the team."