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Bair, Glenbard South stop Hinsdale Central

At 6-foot-2 Glenbard South junior Maggie Bair usually has had little trouble scoring inside on the basketball court.

During her freshman year Bair began taking steps toward also becoming a perimeter shooting threat.

"I just wanted to create more opportunities for our team and be able to score more, become a more well-rounded player to help our team win games," Bair said.

"I think being able to shoot layups and stuff is great, but if you're able to combine your whole game, I feel your whole team can do a lot better."

With help from the precise passing of teammates, Bair scored early from everywhere Tuesday.

Bair's 25 points paced the Raiders past Hinsdale Central 48-31 in the opening game of Wheaton North's Bill Neibch Falcon Classic.

Glenbard South (11-1), the No. 3 seed and winner of 11 straight, meets No. 6 Bartlett (7-5) at 3 p.m. Wednesday. Hinsdale Central (3-8) plays Jacobs (4-7) at 10:30 a.m.

Bair hit her first seven shots, including two 3-pointers, and had 17 of the Raiders' first 22 points in building a 29-13 halftime advantage. Bair also had 11 rebounds to pace the Raiders' 30-17 advantage and blocked 2 shots.

Seniors Mady Carli, who hit both of her 3s in the first half, and Ally Daca had 9 points each.

"(Bair) started out the game well," Glenbard South coach Morgan Kasperek said. "Our first-quarter defense wasn't our best, but then we got into it. The girls were hitting shots and that opens up the game for everybody. Maggie hit some outside shots and then we got it inside, too, so that looked good to start."

Strong passing helped. The Raiders had 17 assists on 20 field goals - 5 of them 3s - with 9 by Carli and 5 from senior Sarah Cohen.

"The posts did a great job getting open and moving to the open spots. They make it easy to sink the ball in there," Carli said.

Hinsdale Central senior reserve Abby Powell had 10 points and freshman guard Molly Sheehan 8 with both hitting two 3s.

The Raiders ended the first quarter with a 10-0 run to lead 17-8 and scored the last 9 points of the second quarter as the Red Devils missed seven shots over the final six minutes.

"We got outrebounded, didn't shoot the ball real well, kind of let it affect how we played," Hinsdale Central coach Karen Persinger said.

"I felt like today we dwelled in our poor shooting too long and didn't recover the way we needed to. Glenbard South played really nice. Bair shot the ball well, took advantage of some opportunities that we gave her."

The Raiders' veteran lineup has four multiyear starters. In last year's opening round of the Falcon Classic, Glenbard South edged Hinsdale Central 38-37 as the Red Devils missed the second of two free throws just before time expired.

Glenbard South went on to finish fifth. Tuesday's margin of victory was the Raiders' closest since their fourth game of the season Nov. 22.

"There are good teams (here. Our goal is) just to get better against better teams," Carli said.

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