Victory is icing on the cake for Glenbard East
The best girls basketball season in recent Glenbard East history, plus a giddy senior, plus senior night cake added up to a faceful of frosting for Rams coach Don Finnie on Tuesday night.
And still he seemed very happy.
"That was kind of just a little bit of extra frosting on the plate," said that senior, Allison Hansen, still laughing from the caper. "We didn't have any Gatorade around."
Hansen was ready to celebrate after her senior-like performance. She scored the Rams' first 8 points and finished with 21 in a 42-31 Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division victory against visiting Waubonsie Valley.
The Rams moved to 15-13 with one regular-season game to play, Thursday at Metea Valley.
"It definitely sets us up for having a winning record, which I know we haven't had in the program for a while," Hansen said. "We were looking forward to this season, coming out, having a winning record."
The Rams won just one game when Hansen was a freshman. In her previous three seasons on the varsity, the Rams won 12 games combined. They had a lot to celebrate Tuesday.
"We've definitely developed a lot over the years, and I'm really thankful that I was able to be a part of it, help lead up the program, set it up for the younger teams to come through and set a standard for them also," Hansen said.
The Rams, 6-7 in the UEC Valley, will start the postseason against No. 21 seed Glenbard West at the Class 4A St. Charles North regional quarterfinals Monday.
"We haven't been the 12 seed in I don't know how long," Finnie said.
Glenbard East started quickly Tuesday. Hansen gave the Rams the lead for good at 3-2 with the first of her three 3-point baskets. They led 24-18 at halftime.
"We talked about we were fortunate to only be down 6 at half," Waubonsie Valley coach David Owles said. "We didn't come out and respond with the intensity we needed, and instead of making a game of it, we let it get away."
Hansen and the Rams created some breathing room from the start of the third quarter. Hansen scored the period's first 6 points, and by the time Warriors senior Taylor Ameri scored with 2:37 left in the quarter, the Rams had a 34-20 lead.
"I was just hitting my shots in the beginning," Hansen said, "and kind of got more confident in my shot, and that kind of carried over."
"She was on fire. She played well," Finnie said moments before Hansen scored on a direct shot to his eyeglasses. "I can't say enough about her."
Ameri led the Warriors with 15 points and 6 rebounds.
"She's been playing well lately, she really has," Owles said of Ameri. "... She's a senior. She knows her opportunities are getting fewer as we get close to the end, and she's really making the most of it. Yeah, she's really playing hard."
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