Daggett gets double figures in Glenbard West win
As senior Lauren Daggett plays her last games for the Glenbard West girls basketball team, she came through with a first Monday against Willowbrook.
Daggett scored in double figures for the first time this season.
The 5-foot-8 forward's 12 points led a balanced attack in the Hilltoppers' 50-23 victory in the opening round of the Class 4A Glenbard West regional.
Glenbard West (13-15), the No. 14 seed in the Schaumburg sectional, plays host to No. 2 Geneva (22-4) in Tuesday's first regional semifinal at 6 p.m.
"That was a big step for me tonight," Daggett said. "I think it was a whole team effort. I wouldn't take responsibility for the scoring at all, but everyone played together and that was something that was really apparent."
Senior Grey Hayes had 9 points and senior Ellen Daniels and junior Catherine Reedy added 8 apiece. Reedy also had 5 rebounds.
"The last couple of games I've started to see a more balanced attack and that's very nice to see. To see everybody on the same page on the same night is a good thing," Glenbard West coach Karen Persinger said. "Whenever we do a good job setting the tempo with our press, good things happen for us."
The Hilltoppers collected 17 steals on the No. 17 Warriors (7-21) with 5 by Reedy and 4 from Daniels. Reedy also readily attacked the lane while Daniels complemented with perimeter shots. The inside effort led to 12 of 20 free throws compared with 4 of 7 for Willowbrook.
"The girls did a really nice job of taking advantage of what the defense was giving them. We were aggressive to the basket, which was really nice to see," Persinger said.
"I think that's some of the most that we've attacked in a game that I can remember," Daggett said. "I think we did a lot of driving, shooting. We were all over the place and I was really happy with that."
The Hilltoppers began a 6-0 run late in the first quarter and then outscored the Warriors 9-2 over the final six minutes of the first half to build a 27-10 advantage.
Willowbrook senior Alyssa Spada opened the second half with a 3, but the Hilltoppers then scored the next 6 points. Spada finished with 7 points while senior Josie Zabran had 6 points and 8 rebounds and junior reserve Kelssie Kraabel 6 points.
"We kind of talked before it's a one-game season so it could go either way. For us seniors to know that this possibly could be our last game is very emotional and an intense feeling," Daggett said. "We just knew if we went out and gave it our all and left it all on the court that we'd be happy regardless of the score."
The Warriors, who will graduate five seniors, lost their last nine games. They played the last five without starting senior point guard Dani Velasquez after she suffered a knee injury Jan. 27.
"We shot (9 of 34) for the game. That was when we got shots. We played very poorly," Willowbrook coach Terry Harrell said. "They hit a few shots that they haven't hit. But you have to take care of the ball. We had way too many turnovers. Our effort was there. Our execution was not and I'll take the blame for that."
In the fall Daggett fine-tuned her aggressiveness as a starting center forward for the Glenbard West girls field hockey team, which finished second in its state tournament. Field hockey coach Karen Judge is an assistant girls basketball coach.
"Field hockey is a very aggressive sport, too, not as much contact, but a lot of hustle, the same kind of thing as basketball," Daggett said. "(Finishing second) was an awesome experience. Just this whole Glenbard West (sports) class this year - we've been talking about how every team has been having such great accomplishments. It's really feeding through every season so we're here in basketball just trying to do the same thing."