advertisement

Glenbard South can't stop Green, Downers Grove North

Downers Grove North needed a special game to defeat Glenbard South on Tuesday at Wheaton North's Bill Neibch Falcon Classic.

Fortunately for the Trojans, they have a special girls basketball player.

Junior guard Jaida Green scored more than half the Trojans' points, doing what Downers Grove North needed to hold off the determined Raiders 49-42.

"She's a great player," Raiders coach Julie Fonda said, "and when she puts her mind to it and takes the ball to the hole, she's relatively unstoppable. Her 3-pointer was on tonight, especially in the third quarter. You can't take anything away from the kid. She played her guts out."

Green was a big reason the Trojans jumped out to a 15-5 first-quarter lead, scoring 10 of her points. The 6-foot-2 Green - averaging 18.6 points a game - finished with 25 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals. The Division I college coaches at the game saw Green shoot 5 of 10 from 3-point range.

"She can do that," said Downers Grove North coach Stephan Bolt of Green. "She had some shots, she knocked them down. (The Raiders) fought right back into it, though. ... It was a quality win for us today, because that was a good team."

The Raiders (10-2) took their first lead with 5:20 to go in the third quarter on senior Sydney Bauman's basket off an Ivana Markovic assist, making the score 26-25. Markovic's 3-pointer on the next possession gave the Raiders their biggest lead of the game.

"They're a tough team," Bolt said. "They're one of the best offensive rebounding teams we've played in a long time. They crash (the boards) every time. We did a better job tonight than we have in the past."

The Trojans (8-3) responded, scoring the next 10 points to take the lead back.

The teams traded the lead four times in the second half with three ties. Downers Grove North took the lead for good with 3:35 to play in the game on Green's 3-point shot. The Trojans held Glenbard South scoreless the final 3:51 after junior guard Payton Carli's basket, with turnovers playing a key role down the stretch.

"We looked a little discombobulated when it came down to it," said Fonda, who did not substitute at all until Markovic fouled out with 15.4 seconds to play. "It's difficult when you play five kids for 31 minutes and 40 seconds. So in the fourth quarter, yeah, we were not taking care of the ball as much, but the effort that they had for the first (part of the game) was incredible."

Carli led the Raiders with 13 points, including three 3-pointers in the first quarter to keep Glenbard South in the game.

"They were awesome," Fonda said. "Those were instrumental in bringing us back. She's a gamer. She's never going to give up, and it doesn't matter what the score is. She's going to do what she can to bring her team back. That's what I love about that kid."

Bauman added 12 points and 6 rebounds.

Peyton Winters, a 6-foot-2 senior post player, contributed 10 points and 4 blocked shots for Downers Grove North.

The third-seeded Trojans advanced to Friday's 6 p.m. semifinal against No. 7 Hinsdale Central. The sixth-seeded Raiders will play at 3 p.m. Friday.

Follow Orrin on Twitter @Orrin_Schwarz

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.