Glenbard North gets message, defeats Hoffman Estates

With a halftime score of 10-3, it's hard to believe that a slower pace would help. But Glenbard North coach Steve Wit said it was the only way to speed up his team's scoring.

After a loss Saturday in which the Panthers played too fast, Wit was seeing it all happen again against visiting Hoffman Estates Monday night in Carol Stream, leading to fouls and turnovers.

"The message at halftime was we need to be a good fundamental team that catches, has nice balance, squares up and sees what's available before acting," he said. "That was the message of halftime, catch and relax a little bit."

Glenbard North (2-6) took those words to the court and exploded offensively, doubling their first-half scoring in the third quarter en route to a 43-11 nonconference victory.

"Once we settled down and started to execute some of the concepts we have in place ... we were starting to catch the ball in places we are familiar with, instead of running around and kind of hoping," Wit said. "The first half we were hoping. The second half we were executing and getting the ball in some of the places we want to get the ball in."

One of those places was the hands of junior guard Olivia Corona.

Corona buried three 3-pointers, including two in the game-changing third quarter.

"We were moving the ball instead of forcing it inside," Corona said of the tempo change. "We were moving it around the perimeter and that made it easier for everyone to get shots, especially the guards. ... When you swing the ball, guards find openings when the defense gets mixed up."

Corona added that her confidence was boosted by the Panthers energy, and that was led by senior point guard Nevaeh King, who scored a game-high 10 points, 7 of them coming in the third.

King, in foul trouble early in the game, added three steals to lead a defense that forced 18 turnovers.

"Neveah and Alyssa (Havard) got themselves into foul trouble," Wit said. "They were reaching defensively when they are good enough to move their feet. Here we are in the second half and we sit on hands, playing a smarter game rather than just an effort game."

Hoffman Estates, which moved to 1-8 on the season, had a tough time building any momentum.

Hawks first-year coach Bradley Reibel said the ineffective offense has been a theme for the past couple weeks.

"We just don't execute," he said. "We're really sloppy with the basketball. We don't have a great idea of what we're doing offensively most of the time.

"The last few games we've been averaging 15 or 16 points a game and right now we're not a very good basketball team offensively, I'll tell you that."

Leading the Hawks was Ashley Oliver with 6 points, while Kalicia Sims had 2 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Diana Rami chipped in 2 points, 3 rebounds, a block and a steal for Hoffman Estates.

For the hosts, Olivia Kulig added 7 points and 5 rebounds, Emily Guenther also scored 7 points, Kayla Rushford tallied 7 rebounds, Akira Lebron had 4 points and 5 rebounds, and Chassidi Betney had 4 points and 4 rebounds all in the fourth quarter.