Glenbard West finds spark to stop skid
Catherine Reedy's outside shooting was cold and her Glenbard West girls basketball teammates needed something to light a fire under them Tuesday night.
A 14-point lead had dwindled to 2 when Reedy drove the baseline for a layup late in the third quarter. Sammy Harris then stole the inbounds pass and scored.
That seemed to do the trick as Glenbard West hung on to knock off upset-minded Hinsdale South 53-41 in a West Suburban Conference crossover in Darien.
"My shots weren't falling from outside so I thought driving inside to get some baskets would help and get my players open," Reedy said. "Starting to drive creates a lot of open looks for players and more scoring opportunities."
The Hilltoppers (12-8) never trailed but didn't enjoy the cakewalk one would have assumed based on each team's record. The Hornets (4-18) rode the hot 3-point shooting of sophomore Emily Koziol to go on an 18-6 run.
A 3 from Koziol, who hit five of them en route to a game-high 19 points, pulled the Hornets to pull within 31-29 with 2:37 to go in the third.
That's when Reedy and Harris made their back-to-back plays. The Hornets turned it over four straight times.
"We started amping up the pressure," Harris said. "We were relaxed and we kept calm, but once we started getting steals we gained momentum and we started scoring."
The last of Koziol's 3s made it 35-32, but Reedy responded by hitting four consecutive free throws and the Hilltoppers led by at least 6 after that.
Reedy scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half and had 7 rebounds and 4 steals. She shot just 4 for 17 but went 6 for 6 from the line.
"We were flat to start," Glenbard West coach Karen Persinger said. "We were doing the right things but just kind of not at our speed and not the energy that we normally have.
"That was challenging our mental toughness. Tonight at least we showed a little bit of mental toughness and finished the game strong."
Forward Samantha Skirvin tallied 13 points for the Hilltoppers, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Harris added 9 points, 5 assists and 5 steals and center Jamiyah Thomas scored 8 points.
Erin Collins had 13 points and 7 rebounds for Hinsdale South, which shot 46 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the line and edged Glenbard West 26-22 on the boards.
"We played hard," Hinsdale South coach Jen Belmonte said. "I think we play harder at home sometimes than we do on the road. We'd like to have a few more wins, but we're starting to come together a little bit."