Glenbard West presses its case against Glenbard North

Seniors Grey Hayes and Ellen Daniels are among the returnees changing the fortunes of the Glenbard West girls basketball team this season.

One big change already has arrived -a press.

"Putting it in this year really made a difference," Hayes said of the full-court defense. "I think it kind of catches a lot of teams by surprise because no one's really expecting that of us. It really helps with setting the tempo, too."

On Saturday the Hilltoppers turned turnovers into the first four baskets of the game and never looked back in defeating Glenbard North 53-29 on the opening day of Glenbard East's annual Rachel Bach Tournament in Lombard.

Hayes and Daniels each had 11 points for the Hilltoppers (2-0). Junior Catherine Reedy had 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, and junior reserve Cali Villasenor had 8 points with two 3-point shots.

Junior Zakiya Newsome had 10 points and two 3s for Glenbard North (2-1). Sophomore Lauren Lee had 9 points, all in the first half.

Last season the Hilltoppers had just three victories. They won one tournament game at Glenbard East but their second win didn't come until Dec. 27. Glenbard North won last year's tournament meeting 48-40.

"A great start to the season," said Daniels, the team's tallest starter at 5-foot-11. "Because we don't have the biggest team height-wise, the press really takes advantage of our quickness. I think it's one of our best characteristics. I think it really highlights it, and it brings a lot of energy."

Glenbard West coach Karen Persinger was concerned about the unusual noon starting time.

After just 2:03 the Hilltoppers led 8-0 off 3 turnovers. They then scored the final 8 points of the quarter for an 18-3 lead and were ahead by at least 13 points the rest of the way.

"That's something we've been emphasizing at practice. We want to set the tempo and force teams to play our speed," Persinger said. "It's not their normal routine. But they came out and jumped on them right away and really played focused basketball."

Glenbard West had 12 steals, 4 by sophomore guard Sammy Harris, with a game-high 5 in the first quarter. Hayes and Villasenor ended the period with back-to-back 3s.

"We didn't press much last year. My first year (as coach) we had a lot of things to get in," Persinger said. "We have a little more team speed this year, which allows us to do a few more things."

The Panthers had scored 50 and 55 points in their first two games. Glenbard North coach John Chamberlain knew the press was coming after watching the Hilltoppers win their opener 60-33 over Waubonsie Valley on Tuesday.

"I scouted them. We watched them on film. We schemed it, talked about it. My girls did not run our press break but maybe one possession the entire game," Chamberlain said.

"It's disappointing. We had a good start and (Saturday) we looked really a step slow and tired. We don't hit some shots early, we got down early from their press and you see it kind of steamrolled. It's like to see us fight through that a little better."

So far, the Hilltoppers have allowed just 26 total first-half points. When Reedy's running 3 from well beyond the arc beat the buzzer, they led 35-15 at halftime.

The Panthers scored 7 straight points to cut the gap to 42-29 in the final minute of the third quarter but then didn't score the rest of the way.

Hayes scored on two layups in the final three minutes to finish in double digits, something that rarely happened last season.

"This team really wants to make a difference and change people's minds about our whole program," Hayes said. "We're all on the same page about making each other better and getting better each day and just changing what we're usually known for. I feel like there's probably a different mentality with our whole team, too."

Persinger said any success will be because of the contributions and sacrifices of last year's seniors.

"Last year's team kind of built the foundation," Persinger said. "I told the seniors that they were not going to be the beneficiary of all of their hard work. They were going to see down the road what they laid. Now these kids have taken it and just run with it."