Glenbard South escapes Downers Grove North to reach tourney final

At times Glenbard South was virtually unstoppable. At other times the Raiders were easily flappable.

But Glenbard South (13-1) flashed just enough offense, particularly at the start of the first and third quarters, to stop Downers Grove North 36-26 Thursday in a semifinal of the Bill Neibch Falcon Classic at Wheaton North.

The third-seeded Raiders scored the first 11 points of the game, then after the Trojans fought back to within 17-12 at halftime, Glenbard South opened the second half on a 12-0 run.

The Raiders would have pitched a shutout in the third quarter had the Trojans' Annie Edwards not scored on a layup at the buzzer.

"(Downers North is) a good team," said Glenbard South guard Sarah Cohen, who had 6 points, an assist and 6 steals. "They played us hard. In the first and third quarters we took our time. Then we sped up with them, and that caused chaos.

"In the future we need to remember to slow down and play our game," she added.

Glenbard South held an 11-point lead on a 3-pointer by Raquel LaPonte with 6:26 remaining in the second quarter. But Downers North's Julia Kramper scored all 7 of her team's points as part of a 7-1 run to close the half.

"We were inconsistent," Glenbard South coach Morgan Kasperek said. "We just got flustered with all the pressure and let them back in the game. It wasn't our best basketball, but we played all right."

Ally Daca, who sat out the final 11 minutes of the first half with foul trouble, led Glenbard South with 11 points. Mady Carli, who was a spectator for the final 10 minutes of the first half, added 7 points.

Kramper led Downers Grove North (7-9) with 12 points, but the Trojans' 6-3 junior Jalyn Harris and 5-10 forward Alexis Parker were a combined 0 for 11 from the floor.

"Glenbard South is a very good team and they defend very, very well, but we didn't execute and didn't make the plays we needed to make on both ends of the floor to give ourselves a chance," Downers North coach Stephan Bolt said.

The Trojans did limit Glenbard South's Maggie Bair to just 4 points, but the 6-3 junior made her presence felt elsewhere with 13 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.

"Alexis (Parker) had a great defensive effort individually (on Bair), but collectively our team defense was not good," Bolt said. "We let other kids get off. We neutralized (Bair), but it's a Catch-22.

"We just didn't play well, but we continued to fight," he added.