Glenbard West stays just ahead of Downers Grove North

Downers Grove North kept trying. Glenbard West kept saying no.

Glenbard West took the lead in Tuesday night's West Suburban Silver girls basketball game to start the second quarter, and though Downers Grove North almost came back a couple of times against the Hilltoppers, they never could break through. The Hilltoppers won 48-41 in Downers Grove.

"We have been working all week on being composed and playing for each other and as a team," Hilltoppers senior guard Sammy Harris said. "I thought that the entire game we really worked on that and every time that they would come close and make a run, we just kind of countered that by lifting each other up and making each other know that one possession is not going to kill us for them and we have the confidence to pull through."

The Hilltoppers led 22-13 late in the second quarter after junior Nicki Adamski converted a three-point play. But the Trojans (4-7, 2-3) scored the final 4 points of the first half, then the first 4 of the second half to pull within a point.

The Hilltoppers pulled away again with a pair of Taylor Huff baskets, a Jamiyah Thomas basket off a Harris assist and a pair of Thomas free throws to lead 30-21.

"We're not tough enough," Trojans coach Stephan Bolt said. "We're not mentally tough enough. We make good spurts and then we give it all back in a hurry because we can't sustain right now. Not right now. We've gotten better but we're not good enough yet. There's still a lot of room for improvement."

Again the Trojans cut into the Hilltoppers' lead, turning a 10-point deficit into a 2-point deficit with a chance to tie. Again the Hilltoppers responded. Senior guard Cameron Kruse ended the Trojans' 8-0 run with a free throw, and Thomas scored another basket. A Huff putback made it 40-33, and the Trojans never threatened again.

Hilltoppers junior guard Katelyn Heller led all scorers with 20 points, adding 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Thomas finished with a dozen points and 8 rebounds, and Huff had 8 points and 5 rebounds.

"Katelyn did great, and she's the type of kid that she works hard all the time," Hilltoppers coach Kristi Faulkner said. "In practice she always wants to win every sprint. She always wants to stay after and get extra shots up. She puts in a lot of hard work and she's a great teammate. It's fun to see a kid who works so hard do well."

The victory moves the Hilltoppers to 7-3 overall, 3-1 in the Silver.

"It's a really big win. It keeps us going because we had a 1-point loss to (Lyons Twp.) in our first conference game, but we bounced back with a couple of wins," Harris said.