Hot shooting lifts Glenbard West

If nothing else Glenbard West could hang its hat on some pretty good shooting.

The Hilltoppers (3-5, 1-2) made 65 percent of their field-goal attempts through the first three quarters of Tuesday’s West Suburban Silver game, then hung on through a harrowing fourth quarter for a 48-47 victory against Oak Park.

“We took looked for shots, finally,” Hilltoppers coach Mike Hofland said. “That’s part of the patience thing.”

The Hilltoppers’ shooting overcame a night on which it turned the ball over 29 times, 13 in the first quarter, and saw Oak Park grab 29 offensive rebounds.

“It was bad, but compared to a couple of other games early on tonight was decent,” Hofland said. “But still, it was not a pretty sight. We’ll take it.”

Leading by 3 at halftime, the Hilltoppers scored the first 10 points of the second half, with 6-foot-3 center Caitlin Soane assisting on four Breanna Venson layups on high-low plays. The lead peaked at 37-22 on one of those Venson layups, but Oak Park took over from there. The Huskies never took the lead back, however, even as the Hilltoppers slipped to 3-of-11 shooting in the fourth quarter.

“Breanna Venson worked hard on both sides of the court,” Hofland said. “We want to get Cait the ball, and Bre wanted it so she worked hard. We knew she could post up her girl, and she worked hard for it. As a (5-9) guard/small forward she’s tough around the basket, and she showed it tonight.”

Soane, a Loyola recruit, scored 20 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and had 5 assists. Venson finished with 11 assists and 6 rebounds, and Claire Graham hit a couple of key 3-pointers to finish with 8 points.