Home cooking helps Glenbard North beat Metea Valley

Glenbard North showed just how happy it was to be home.

Playing its first game of the girls basketball season in Carol Stream, Glenbard North secured its first victory of the season. The Panthers came from behind Tuesday to defeat visiting Metea Valley 38-27 in a nonconference game.

"This is awesome," Panthers junior guard Olivia Corona said. "That's just what we needed. It just feels really good."

"It's just a jump to our season," added senior forward Chassidi Betney. "We start here and we push on out. It just feels great."

The way the Panthers (1-4) showed patience and energy left them feeling good also.

"The kids are buying into the stuff that we've been trying to teach them," Glenbard North coach Steve Wit said. "Effort has got to be there every night in this area and this league (DuKane Conference). I think we played with great effort, and I'd like to see that every night and I think we can compete."

After three ties and six lead changes in the first half, there was just one of each in the second. The Panthers took the lead for good in the third quarter, which ended with them leading 27-21.

Metea Valley made all six of its first-quarter shots, but its shooting touch disappeared after that. The Mustangs made just 4 of 30 shots in the final 24 minutes.

"We got very sloppy after that first quarter," Metea Valley coach Keith McIntosh said. "I really spent the whole game trying to get them taking care of the details, and I could never get them there. And then as you could see, we missed a lot of shots around the basket. I think that was the difference in the basketball game."

Metea Valley (3-2) took a 14-7 lead in the first quarter and looked like it might pull away. Instead the Panthers worked their way back to even and then ahead.

"That's how we practiced yesterday," McIntosh said. "We did pretty good in the Hinsdale Central tournament, and I think we're feeling ourselves a little bit. I don't know why. But we've been very lethargic our last two days of practice, and it spills out on the basketball court."

Freshman Raina Penttila led the Mustangs with 8 points, and senior Chloe Kurkjian added 7.

Corona led all scorers with 12 points, hitting a couple of 3-pointers in the first quarter to keep the Panthers close. Senior guard Nevaeh King added 8 points, and Betney's extra effort paid off with 7 points, 7 rebounds - 6 of them on the offensive boards - plus 2 steals.