Glenbard South's experience shows in key league win
Glenbard South showed Thursday night why girls basketball coach Julie Fonda loves having so many seniors in her girls basketball lineup.
"My experience I think tonight played a big part in turning the tide and being able to stay patient and running clock and getting us in a position to win," said Fonda, who started four seniors and played five.
The Raiders came back from an early 10-point deficit, then handled the Riverside-Brookfield trap in the fourth quarter like veterans, grabbing an important Metro Suburban Conference West Division victory, 57-45 in Glen Ellyn.
The Bulldogs (10-2, 2-1), expected to contend with the Raiders for the league title, started quickly, jumping to a 12-2 lead.
"That was really a credit to R-B," Raiders senior Jenna Brambora said. "They came out shooting and they were making them all, so we couldn't get frustrated with the deficit and we really pulled ourselves out of it."
"Down 12-2, the nice thing about my group is they don't panic," Fonda added. "There's a lot of ballgame left, and they're going to hit their shots and they're going to get their opportunities, so they just stayed cool, calm and collected and started shooting the ball. We got some key 3-pointers that turned it around."
It took the Raiders (9-1, 4-0) just four minutes to pull themselves turn it around, Sarah Cohen's 3-pointer from the corner tying the game before the first quarter ended.
On the strength of senior center Sydney Bauman's 12-point, 5-rebound third quarter, the Raiders took a 5-point lead into the fourth quarter, when they changed their offensive approach.
"We kind of went to our delay game, and with Syd out of the game (with four fouls) for a while there, it kind of was in our favor because of our speed and our ability to handle the basketball," Fonda said. "I just told them spread it, and when they come to trap, everybody's got to come to the basketball. It worked out for us, and we just left one person on the back side, and once we got the reversal it was wide open. Jenna reaped the benefits of that, big-time. But she was in the right place at the right time, and she converted."
Left by herself under the basket, Brambora took advantage thanks to her teammates' passes.
"We practice that a lot because coach always says if we have the ball, they can't score, so we really work on controlling the ball and not giving them opportunities to score when they have the ball," Brambora said. "Just staying patient, not freaking out when they're pressuring."
Brambora finished with a game-best 16 points, 11 of them in the fourth quarter. Bauman fought off ankle problems to score 15 points, grab 11 rebounds, dish 4 assists and collect 4 steals. Senior guard Ivana Markovic added 7 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, and classmate Alex LaPonte had 6 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds.
"Their big girl (Bauman is 6-foot-4) hit some perimeter shots, and our game plan was to stay off her and let her take those shots," Bulldogs coach Dallas Till said. "She knocked them down, and kudos to her and their kids for a good game. We've just got to be a little bit better."
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