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Tired WW South gets scare from Glenbard North

The Wheaton Warrenville South girls basketball team suffered an understandable letdown Monday night against Glenbard North following games where the Tigers beat ranked opponents Wheaton North, Glenbard South and West Chicago.

The Tigers built a 9-point lead with a 6-0 run to open the fourth quarter and ran a weave offense for the remainder of the period, unwilling to even attempt to score, just looking to escape with a 41-33 DuPage Valley Conference victory over the Panthers.

“Four games in eight days,” Tigers' coach Rob Kroehnke said. “We thought we saw (fatigue) at the beginning of the West Chicago game but we came back and played well. This, Glenbard North just hangs around. If you let them hang around, it will be a ballgame. We weren't sharp enough offensively and didn't execute the way we needed to really do the things we wanted to.”

Only Tigers junior Katherine Gassensmith reached double figures for her team, scoring 6 of her 11 points in the fourth quarter — though WWS was 11 of 12 at the free-throw line to help its cause.

The Panthers (4-14, 0-6) picked up 12 points from both Amy Falson and Brianna Harn. But Glenbard North could not convert on three straight possessions with a 6-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter, which would have put pressure on the Tigers to try to score against the Panthers' 2-3 zone.

“Coaches talk and talk about you just can't simulate (situational plays) in practice,” said Panthers coach John Chamberlain. “You try, you can't. The girls, a couple of them were batted balls where we just don't come up with a clean pass or a clean catch. You at least want to get the look.”

The game started slow, with the Panthers putting the first point on the board halfway through the first quarter.

The Tigers (13-5, 5-1) took a 10-3 lead into the second quarter and expanded their edge 19-6, but the Panthers fought back behind Farson and Harn to cut their deficit to just 4 points at halftime.

“Everyone was just a little bit tired, but we definitely expected more out of ourselves,” Gassensmith said. “We moved the ball well, but our defense was lacking a little bit tonight. We weren't getting as many deflections as we wanted to.”

Images: Wheaton Warrenville South vs. Glenbard North girls basketball

  Bethany Wieczorek of Wheaton Warrenville South, left, and Krysta Watts Glenbard North fightfor a rebound Monday night in Carol Stream. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
  Krysta Watts, left, of Wheaton Warrenville South and Carson Jones, right, of Glenbard North go up for a rebound in girls basketball action Monday in Carol Stream. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.comAmy Falson of Glenbard North shoots for a basket in action against Wheaton Warrenville South girls basketball Monday in Carol Stream.
  Kelly Langlas, left, of Wheaton Warrenville South moves around Jackie Jacobs, center, and Amy Falson, right, of Glenbard North in girls basketball action Monday in Carol Stream. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com