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Willowbrook puts pressure on Glenbard East

Playing a full-court press can be physically taxing, but it suited Willowbrook's Khaylah Richey and K'aliyha Herron on Friday night.

The two seniors created all sorts of havoc during the decisive third-quarter turnaround against Glenbard East.

Richey and Herron, with help from juniors Annemarie Knudson and Stephanie Dasbach, were at the forefront of a devastating defensive effort that sparked the host Warriors to a 53-46 nonconference victory.

Glenbard East (13-11) led 27-21 late in the second quarter but turned the ball over 14 times in the third quarter. Willowbrook took full advantage, going on a 22-4 run to take command.

The Warriors (13-7) scored 15 consecutive points during that run. Richey, Herron and Dasbach accounted for all of them, with the vast majority coming on steals just a few feet from their own basket.

"It's an instinct thing because you tell where they're going to throw the ball sometimes," Richey said. "So you've just got to go with your instinct because there's two sides (of the court), so you go to that one side (you think they will pass to)."

In that respect Richey and Herron had the instincts of a hockey goalie, consistently picking off passes and going in for easy layups. At one point the Rams turned it over on six straight possessions, with Richey finishing the spurt with back-to-back steals and baskets to give the Warriors a 43-29 lead with 1:01 left in the third quarter.

"They were just tenacious," Glenbard East coach Nicole Miller said. "I have to give them credit.

"They really came to the ball, they pressured us and we kind of lost our composure."

Junior guard Lauren Huber, who had 25 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals, answered with 6 straight points. Emily Ryan, who finished with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, followed with a layup to pull the Rams within 43-37 at the 6:27 mark of the fourth quarter, but that was as close as they got.

Herron tallied 6 points down the stretch to put the game away.

"We have a lot of trust in our teammates so we trust each other to cover this spot or that spot so we can take those (passes) away from the other team," Herron said. "Our key to the press is practice because we're mostly a defensive team, so we operate our defense and translate it to offense."

The Warriors performed better out of the press than in their half-court defense. The Rams shot 13 for 24 in the first half before foundering against the press.

"(We need to work on) just handling pressure and being able to pass the ball well enough to get out of that," Miller said. "Even when we'd bring it over (the timeline) they would get us again."

Indeed, the Warriors brought pressure - and production - from everywhere. Dasbach tallied 14 points to share team-high scoring honors with Herron and also added 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals.

Herron had 7 rebounds and 3 steals, while Knudtson finished with 11 points, 5 boards, 4 steals and 3 assists. But it was Richey, who had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals off the bench, who was the key.

"When we set our minds to it, we're pretty good, but we usually don't play (the press) for that long," Willowbrook coach Terry Harrell said. "We play it when we're trying to come back.

"It was working and we ran a couple different girls through it and it kept working, so we kept running it.

"Khaylah was a good piece of it. Khaylah is not a starter. Her legs haven't had the pounding that the starters' have had so it worked pretty well."

But even starters like Richey played through their fatigue.

"Once that adrenaline gets going, it's like that's what keeps you going," Richey said. "You keep going faster and harder. Even when you know you're tired but you're like, 'We've got to win.'"

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