Glenbard South perseveres against scrappy Fenton
Girls basketball teams might leave Fenton with a victory, but they rarely leave feeling good about it. More just relieved.
Glenbard South was the better team Friday night in Bensenville, taking home a 45-33 Metro Suburban Conference West Division victory, but the Bison did their best to frustrate the Raiders (6-1, 2-0).
"They don't give up, they're relentless, they're scrappy," Raiders coach Julie Fonda said. "In this gym I don't think I've ever coached a really solid game that you finish around the hoop, you box out, you do all the little things. It was much better tonight, but all in all they just keep coming at you. Luckily, we were able to hold them off. I mean, that's the bottom line, I guess."
"Right now we're pretty good," Fenton coach Tim Anderson added. "We're doing the things we need to do most of the time. But if we're going to beat a team like this, we need to increase the frequency with which we do it. "
Fenton (2-5, 0-2) scored the first four points of the game while the Raiders tried to adjust to the Bison's slow, methodical ways and backdoor cuts on offense. The adjustment came midway through the first quarter, when the Raiders reeled off an 11-0 run to take the lead for good.
"Our press is phenomenal, and we have really fast guards with really long, lanky arms that cause a lot of turnovers," Glenbard South senior center Sydney Bauman said.
"Obviously, we're kind of a go-go team, and I knew they were going to get into position quick and stop us from running our break, and that's fine," Fonda added. "We're actually working on having some patience on offense, so it fit well with what our theme has been lately of moving the basketball and getting our shots instead of settling for the other team's shots."
The lead hit double digits with 5:47 left in the second quarter when Bauman converted a putback to make the score 17-6. The Raiders led 26-14 at halftime, and the margin peaked at 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Bauman, a SIU-Edwardsville recruit, finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots.
"She's been awesome all year," Fonda said. "This is a typical game of hers. She's doing an awesome job of posting up and being open, and the guards are finding her and making other teams pay. She's worked hard over the past three years, and she's reaping the benefits."
Junior guard Payton Carli, who joined the starting lineup when senior Megan Smith tore an ACL in the first game of the season, added 10 points and 5 rebounds.
"She's kind of our little Energizer Bunny, I guess you could call her. She never stops," Fonda said.
Dana Fritz, the Bison's tallest player at 5-10, scored a team-best 9 points and added 5 rebounds.
"We're looking for some positives, and there were a lot of them for us," Anderson said.
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