Bair, Glenbard South holds Glenbard West in check

Monday's matchup between Glenbard South and Glenbard West at the Rachel Bach Tournament was a defensive battle.

Or maybe an offensive struggle. Or quite possibly a combination of both.

But in the end, thanks in large part to Maggie Bair, the Raiders emerged with a 30-20 girls basketball win in Lombard.

"Both teams played very good defense," Glenbard South coach Morgan Kasperek said. "I love the way Glenbard West plays, they go to the ball hard and they play with a lot of heart. And we expect to come out and hold teams down; one shot, turn and get the rebound and go the other way. The problem right now is the other way."

Indeed, the teams nearly combined for as many turnovers as points in the opening quarter as Glenbard South (1-1) took a 7-2 lead. Bair then scored five points apiece in the second and third quarters to help push the advantage to 25-13. The sophomore finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals.

"This was a good win coming back from losing to Glenbard North (on Nov. 19)," Bair said. "We needed this to get our confidence up. Coach K says we are young but we can't act like it. When we step on the court, we have to play like we are old. Try to take the ball to the rim and if you can't, step back and shoot."

Sarah Cohen chipped in with 8 points. Mady Carli had 3 steals and Ally Daca pulled down 6 rebounds.

The Hilltoppers (2-1) went on a 7-2 run in the fourth to cut the deficit to 7 but could get no closer. Glenbard West forced 20 turnovers, led by the 6 steals from Catherine Reedy. She added 9 points and 4 rebounds. Cameron Kruse had 5 points.

"I can't say enough about the heart my kids showed," Glenbard West coach Karen Persinger said. "I'm very pleased with the defensive effort. If we hold teams to 25-30 points, I'll be very happy as the year progresses. Offensively in the first half, we got good looks, we got shots we wanted to shoot. We just couldn't find the bottom of the ocean."