Cohen, Daca help Glenbard South claim 7th straight regional title
Sarah Cohen put points on the scoreboard without scoring. Ally Daca scored like she's never scored before.
Together the seniors led top-seeded Glenbard South to a 51-39 victory Thursday against St. Francis at the Spartans' Class 3A girls basketball regional final in Wheaton.
The Raiders (26-3) will meet the winner of Friday's game between Dixon and Rockford Lutheran at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Genoa-Kingston sectional semifinals.
Cohen dished out 9 assists, many of them to Daca or Maggie Bair under the basket. Daca, a Lindenwood University recruit, finished with a personal-best 22 points. Bair, a junior committed to Drake University, scored 19 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and blocked 4 shots.
"I was really impressed," Raiders coach Morgan Kasperek said. "I thought our guards did a nice job of getting it inside to Bair and Daca, who were really calm with the basketball and finished. It was nice."
"In practice we just kept working on driving to get them open," Cohen added, "and I think that worked in the game. I just kept driving knowing that they were going to drive and get open."
Daca made 11 of her 12 shots, including her first 8. Ironically, she missed the only free throw the Raiders shot.
"That's the best game I've seen out of Ally," Kasperek added. "She played really well."
"I just kind of went with it," Daca added, noting she and Bair, both over 6 feet tall, had a height advantage over the Spartans. "I knew we needed to score points and I knew it was going to be a fun, exciting game. I thought we need to step it up now. We're in the playoffs, so I just shot away."
The victory gives the Raiders seven consecutive regional championships.
"That means a lot," Cohen said. "I think it makes us so happy to know that we're keeping the streak going. It motivates us to keep going."
St. Francis jumped out to a 7-2 lead early, forcing Raiders turnovers and scoring in transition. Arkansas-Little Rock recruit Antwainette Walker scored 9 of her St. Francis-high 20 points in the first quarter.
The Raiders slowed Walker in the middle quarters when Daca switched on to her defensively and used her height to her advantage.
"She's a great player," Daca said. "She's super quick. I think just being able to move your feet really helped. In the beginning I didn't quite move my feet like I should have, but I soon realized that I needed to."
"Ally did a really nice job on both ends of the floor tonight. She played a complete game," Kasperek added.
The Raiders took the lead for good in the second quarter with an 11-0 run. A Daca basket in the third quarter put them ahead by 13, but St. Francis cut the margin to 6 points on a scoop shot high off the backboard by senior Christine Fasana.
That just sparked another run from the Raiders, 14-1, to finish the third quarter with a 19-point lead.
"They played well," Spartans coach Sandy DeCraene said. "They found some open holes, and they were feeding it down and we couldn't adjust. But they played well and they came to play."