Glenbrook South's team game earns repeat championship at Wheaton North

Glenbrook South's girls basketball team used a team game to earn a repeat championship at Wheaton North's 38th Bill Neibch Holiday Classic.

Confirming its No. 1 seed entering the tournament, Glenbrook South held off No. 6 Schaumburg 58-51 on Dec. 30.

Glenbrook South (15-2) won its seventh Neibch title to equal Hinsdale Central for the most tournament titles at Wheaton North.

"I think this year obviously it was a close game like last year (57-48 over Wheaton North) so it just feels great to pull it out and take the win," said Titans senior point guard Sidney Rogers, named the tournament's MVP.

"Just coming back again, being the No. 1 seed, we had a lot to perform to and I feel like we really did that," she said.

The Washington University recruit, who scored her 1,000th career point on Dec. 27, was among three Titans chosen to the all-tournament team. Sophomore guard Gina Davorija and junior center Anna Rosenberger joined her on the 11-player list.

"It's good walking in being the number one seed and finishing the tournament," said Rosenberger, who led all players in blocked shots, was fourth in rebounds and second in field goal percentage. Rosenberger, Rogers and Davorija were Nos. 2-3-4 in field goal percentage, respectively, all over .60%.

"The team we played was an underdog and won yesterday, so we didn't want to walk in with the mindset of 'we're going to win this thing.' We just wanted to play with all the energy we had and finish the tournament," the 6-foot-2 Rosenberger said.

Davorija scored a team-high 16 points and scored 6 unanswered points in the fourth quarter for a 44-36 Titans lead. Rosenberger had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Rogers, guarded closely by Schaumburg's Audrey Schluckbier, finished with 14 points.

The closest Schaumburg came down the stretch was on a 3 by junior Madi Dolecki with 11.5 seconds before the Titans scored a layup against a full-court press for the final basket.

"They play very hard. They have nice parts, work well together," Glenbrook South coach Scott Nemecek said of the Saxons. "Other than the first minute of the game - maybe - it didn't feel like it was comfortable until the end. We were sort of fortunate to get a couple of possessions ahead."

Schaumburg (10-8), led by Schluckbier's 17 points, entered the Neibch tournament on a three-game losing streak against tough opponents. Saxons coach Jacqie Strauch challenged her players to play closer to their potential.

"I asked them before the tournament, 'Are you a .500 team or an above-.500 team - and I think we deserve to be an above-.500 team with the talent we have.' I think tonight they showed that they belonged here," the coach said.

On a pair of free throws by Symone Harrell, Schaumburg took its only lead at 25-24 on its first possession of the third quarter.

Glenbrook South regrouped.

"We know who we are. We're going to show who we are on the court," said Titans junior forward Christina Korompilas, who came in early off the bench to provide a spark with 6 points and 5 rebounds.

"The moment we step on the court we give it all we've got. I admire the girls. When we get into our little huddle, us five, I'm like, let's show them who we are, let's kick some butt, let's do this thing," Korompilas said.

The statistics compiled by Wheaton North staff illustrated how well Glenbrook South played as a team, even in the final when Schluckbier's ball-denial defense limited Rogers' ability to get off even her patented long-distance 3-pointers.

Rosenberger's 5 blocked shots in Thursday's championship victory were the only individual game high recorded by a Titan. The 6 blocks recorded Dec. 27 against West Aurora, Rosenberger with 4, were the only team high.

Rosenberger's 12 blocked shots and Rogers' 3-point success rate of 55% were the sole Titans tourney leaders.

Yet as a team Glenbrook South averaged 60.8 points a game to lead all 16 teams. Its 15.8-point margin of victory trailed only Schaumburg's 16-point margin, the difference being a single point allowed.

"I think it shows us mainly that when we play together we play best, because we have had some ups and downs when we've not been playing as much of a team game," Davorija said.

"But this tournament we really played a team game so it's going to help us moving forward."

- Bill Stone contributed to this report