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Glenbard South starts Fonda's final season with an easy victory

When breaking the pregame huddle, Glenbard South's girls basketball team made sure everyone knew that they wanted to make history, and they got off to the right start.

The Raiders defeated a young Lemont team 43-20 in the season opener Monday in Glen Ellyn as both teams shook off some preseason rust.

"The day one, first game of the year, you never know what you're going to get, said Raiders coach Julie Fonda. "All I can ask for them to do is play hard for 32 minutes and that's what they did."

No matter the success of the Raiders this season, some history will be made.

Fonda, who is in her 10th year as coach, will step down at the end of the season, citing her hectic schedule off the court as a main reason. Fonda is an assistant athletic director, the softball coach and a department chair.

Senior Sydney Bauman, who had a game-high 14 points and 5 blocks, said this team is ready to be a powerhouse and the departure of her coach only adds to the motivation.

"I've played for (varsity) all four years and this is Fonda's last year so we want to be the team that everyone is like, 'Oh, (crud), we have to play Glenbard South,' " Bauman said. "We want to make a statement and we want to say that we're here and we can't be ignored at all."

The Raiders got the win, but they certainly weren't playing their best basketball. Glenbard South put up just 14 points in the second half and went just 5 of 12 from the free-throw line.

"We'll shake out the rust and get back and do it," Fonda said. "The shots will fall. It's all about opportunities, and when we executed tonight we had awesome opportunities to score. Whether the ball went in the hoop or not it doesn't matter at this point."

Glenbard South may have to try and make history without a key player as well. Senior Megan Smith went down late in the first quarter with a knee injury and did not return, having to be carried into the locker room at halftime.

Fonda said any time that Smith misses is a big problem for her group.

"She's a huge part of our heart and soul," Fonda said. "Even her being out one game is going to be a little detrimental to us. We'll just hope for the best and she'll get an MRI tomorrow and know from there. If she's down it's a big blow to us."

Lemont's Shannon O'Donnell led her team with 8 points going 4 of 7 from the free-throw line.

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