South Elgin stays undefeated with win at Glenbard East

Thursday was an emotional time for South Elgin senior Teagan Pompa.

First, she went to the hospital to visit teammate Kennedy Wells, who had surgery to repair a torn ACL.

Then she went out and scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Storm to a 38-24 victory over Glenbard East in the teams' Upstate Eight Valley opener in Lombard.

The victory continued the best start in school history for South Elgin (6-0, 1-0), which was playing its second game without Wells, its senior point guard.

"Kennedy had surgery today," Pompa said. "That was tough, but she's fine, so it was good to see her before the game. That really encouraged me to come out here and play."

Pompa, who missed most of last season after ACL surgery, made the biggest play of the game early in the fourth quarter.

Glenbard East (2-5, 0-1) had cut a 16-point deficit to 30-24 on a putback by junior Faith Davies. South Elgin coach Dan Mandernack called a timeout with six minutes left and drew up a play.

Wells' replacement, sophomore Casey Brennan, found an open Pompa underneath the basket for a three-point play. Mackie Kelleher followed with a steal and basket and the Storm finished the game with an 8-0 run.

"We drew up a special play," Mandernack said. "We ran that play last year for Teagan or teams that overplay her, but we hadn't run it all year.

"Brennan inbounds. If (Pompa) is open, get it to her. If she's not just get it in. The kids executed it perfectly. (The Rams) had cut it to 6, so that was a huge play."

Pompa scored 10 points during the Storm's opening 20-4 run, but the Storm had been scoreless for nearly five minutes before she converted that play.

"I was ready," Pompa said. "I knew it was going to be a good pass and everyone was going to set good screens.

"I just had to execute and score. My teammates are all great and they all do what they're supposed to, so it's really easy to do stuff when everyone plays so well."

Kelleher, a 6-foot-1 senior center, added 13 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals.

"(Pompa's play) definitely helped us," Kelleher said. "We built off the momentum and energy. It's the first conference game and we wanted to be 6-0."

Junior Briana Raysby tallied 13 points to pace the Rams, who committed 29 turnovers. Sommer Dolinski added 5 points and 5 rebounds, while Davies grabbed 10 rebounds.

"We have to take care of the basketball a little bit better," Glenbard East coach Don Finnie said. "I start four juniors, so that's going to improve as the year goes on.

"I'm happy with them. They've done a lot of good things."