North Lawndale holds off Glenbard South
After injuring her right knee during the first quarter of Monday's Class 3A Glenbard South sectional semifinal, Glenbard South 6-foot-1 freshman Maggie Bair vowed to return.
"I knew I had to come back. I knew my team needed me and I didn't want to sit out too long," Bair said.
The Raiders had an almost even greater comeback as a team.
Although they lost to North Lawndale 31-22 in Glen Ellyn, they continue to gain believers and confidence with a starting lineup of four sophomores and Bair.
"I think we really just need to believe in ourselves," Bair said. "Coming into this game, we were just really timid. We didn't think we could do it. Going into next season, we just need to know that we can do it. We just need to see ourselves to be as good as we are."
Even after missing 11:23, Bair had team bests of 7 points and 6 rebounds for the Raiders (18-11), the No. 2 sectional seed. Ashley Dodge and Ally Daca each had 4 points and Sarah Cohen had 3 steals and 3 assists.
Bair returned after halftime and scored the first basket of the third quarter to tie the game 17-17. The Raiders never led but didn't trail by more than 5 until the final two minutes, when they needed three quick fouls to put the No. 3 Phoenix (20-11) into the free-throw bonus.
"As always, I'm proud of our defense. I was proud that they came out and weren't scared," first-year Glenbard South coach Morgan Kasperek said. "But you've got to make the open layups come playoff time. You've got to box out. You've got to do the little things. I just hope they know how good they can be."
The key possession came after Daca's two free throws cut the deficit to 25-22 with 4:44 left.
The Phoenix worked the ball for more than two minutes until a foul. On the inbounds play, Kia Brooks worked a give-and-go with Marquita Thorne for an easy layup. After the Raiders missed a 3, Brooks easily scored off another inbounds pass by Thorne to go up by 7.
"Holding that ball out there at the end, that was a great move," Kasperek said. "North Lawndale is a good basketball team and gave us everything they had. They've a very well-coached team."
"That's a play we ran all year. We were able to execute two layups in a row and I think that sealed the deal for us," North Lawndale coach Corey Morgan said.
"Glenbard South's a good team. The home crowd was tough. We made a few plays down the stretch and then we did something we haven't done all season. We played some defense in that second half."
North Lawndale started four juniors and a freshman. Junior Jada Thorpe had 14 points with three 3s and Brooks added 9 with a 3-pointer.
In the first half the Phoenix led 32-15 in shots and 22-11 in rebounds but only 17-15 on the scoreboard after Cohen's 3 at the buzzer. Bair boosted the Raiders in the third quarter with 5 points and 3 rebounds.
"We knew we still had a chance so we just tried pushing our hardest," Cohen said. "The chemistry with each other just grew (this season). We're just going to try and add on to what we left off with and work from there."
During their loss Dec. 26, the Raiders lost senior and leading scorer Payton Carli for the season to a broken bone in her hand. After that the Raiders went 12-4, including a second victory over Riverside-Brookfield to earn a share of the Metro Suburban Conference West Division title with the Bulldogs.
"We started out the year losing games by 30. They just got so much better," Kasperek said. "In general their progress was tremendous. I hope they see how much they've grown, and none of them are at their basketball peak."
North Lawndale plays No. 1-seed Marshall (28-3) for the sectional title at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Phoenix, eliminated by Marshall in last year's sectional semifinals, have lost twice to the Commandos this season by 19 and most recently 10 points.