Glenbard North surprises Wheaton North

Some teams might shake off a bad game and put it out of its collective mind. But a big reason why the Glenbard North girls basketball team won 48-47 on Thursday at Wheaton North was that the Panthers have a long memory.

"This is such a big confidence builder. On senior night on Tuesday (a 46-30 loss to Wheaton Warrenville South), we did not play well. It was the last home game of the season," said junior Jennifer Deegan, who scored 9 second-half points.

Also on the Panthers' minds were the two losses already this season to the Falcons (9-11, 4-3, DuPage Valley Conference), including one at the Wheaton North holiday tournament.

It was Deegan's two free throws with 1:50 left in the contest that gave them the 48-47 advantage. The rest of the time on the scoreboard was a combination of timeouts, inbounds passes and missed opportunities on both sides.

However, the Panthers (9-12, 3-5) went home the winners thanks to not only Deegan's 9 points in the last two quarters, but Leah Miller scoring 8 of her 11 points in the second half.

"We put our heart into it tonight and made our shots," Miller said.

Wheaton North led 38-36 at the end of the third quarter thanks to Hannah Swider's steal and layup with less than 10 seconds left.

The Falcons took a 30-24 lead into halftime. It was a big first half for Zakiya Newsome and was crucial to keeping Glenbard North within reach of Wheaton North. She scored 11 of her team-high 14 points during the first two quarters.

"She was uspet about Tuesday. She was very determined and played excellent defense. Zakiya was nails tonight," said Glenbard North coach John Chamberlain.

Chamberlain said Thursday's victory was crucial to the Panthers' fortunes the rest of the season.

"This was a big turnaround. We broke down a lot of film on Wednesday. And it could have gone two ways - either we turn it around or we fall into a hole," he said.

Senior Kelly Thornton scored a game-high 25 points for Wheaton North, including five 3-point baskets. Teammate Emmy Gryna followed with 12 points.

"Kelly got on the defensive end early and got quick baskets off her defense," said Falcons coach Dave Eaton.

Eaton takes his team into Saturday's home contest against Lake Park trying to find answers on the overall condition of the Falcons' defense.

"The defense is not there. We're struggling on defense. Giving up 48 points is a lot for us. We as coaches have to do a better job of getting them ready," he said.