Glenbard East withstands Waubonsie Valley comeback
Glenbard East played one of its better first halves of the season on Thursday night, and it turns out it really needed that great start to win at Waubonsie Valley.
The visiting Rams jumped ahead 17-4 and led a one-win Warriors team 25-11 at the half. But the home team scrapped its way back into the contest over the final two quarters before coming up just short as Glenbard East pulled out the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division game 43-39 in Aurora.
Rams forwards Brasia Solid and Allison Hansen were forces on both ends of the floor and helped lead the way to the fast start. The pair combined for 17 of the Rams' 25 first-half points, and Solid finished the night with game highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds.
"We were focused before the game and we had the mindset that we were going to come out here and play our game," said Solid, who added 3 blocks and 3 steals to her big night. "We wanted to come out and run and use our speed and do all that we can do, to use our ability to our best. And we did that. We came out strong."
After falling behind 17-4, the Warriors got a little closer in the second quarter and trailed 19-11 after Katie D'Ouville came away with a steal and converted it into a basket on the other end. But Glenbard East (13-13, 4-7) closed out the half with a 6-0 run that included a 3-pointer from Solid and a fastbreak bucket from Ashley Brown.
Hansen, who had 12 points and 6 rebounds on the night, then knocked down a pair of baskets in the third quarter, the second of which was a 3 that gave the Rams a seemingly safe lead of 30-15.
But the Warriors, who fell to 1-19 on the year and are still seeking their first conference win, whittled the deficit to 32-22 after three quarters. Then they used a strong fourth quarter to get to within 39-35 with 1:34 left to play following a pair of free throws by Taylor Ameri.
Ameri scored all 9 of her points in the second half to pace Waubonsie Valley.
Solid, however, followed up her own missed shot in the final minute with a put-back and was fouled. Her big three-point play allowed the Rams to hold off the charging Warriors.
"We came out fast and towards the middle we came out a little bit wobbly and started to let them back in," she said. "But as our bench was cheering us on, we were cheering ourselves on to keep our heads up and we made it to a victory."
Warriors coach David Owles had mixed feelings after his squad's strong second half. It was great to see the team's defense pick up, to see the team drive the basket and make its free throws, and for Abby Phillips to be tough again on the glass. But what was not so great was the slow start and the fact that these stretches of great play have not surfaced often enough this season.
"I was very pleased with our second-half effort and very frustrated by it as well," he said. "Why don't we do that more often? It's clearly in us to play that way, and we don't."
But Owles is hopeful the team can use Thursday's strong finish as a springboard to some late-season success. "
"I'm very happy with how we came out in the second half. We battled and battled all the way to the end. It's just an issue of, let's do that more often. We're at that point now where we have to forget about everything that has happened to this point and just focus on these next couple weeks."