Glenbard South finds answer to Glenbard East's challenge

Confronted by a new and improved Glenbard East girls basketball team, Glenbard South needed to respond.

So that's what the Raiders did, pulling away for a 45-26 victory Thursday in an Upstate Eight Conference game in Lombard.

Challenged when the Rams cut an 11-point halftime lead to 5, the Raiders scored the next 11 points for a 34-18 fourth-quarter lead. Glenbard South (12-4, 7-3) wasn't challenged again.

"I think our defense, it could have been better during those moments and then we picked it back up," senior guard Rocky LaPonte said. "I think we were all kind of tired because it was a long game."

"They started making a bunch of shots and then it was like, holy cow, we've got to go," Raiders coach Morgan Eufrasio said. "I mean, Glenbard East is a good team and we've been hearing, actually, all season, they're playing great. They went on a seven-game win streak and credit to them, they really changed this program.

"You get up by a little bit and they felt they could relax, and Glenbard East is good and they came right back."

The Raiders took the lead for good with a 13-0 first-quarter run on 5-of-6 shooting, 3 of 4 from 3-point range. They finished with seven 3-pointers in the game, four of them by LaPonte.

"We just started off well and we just had a lot of open shots," said LaPonte, who finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and a blocked shot. "We were making them today."

Akayhla Dixon came off the Glenbard South bench to score 13 points, including a couple of baskets in that second-half run. Lauren Cohen added 9 points and 5 steals.

"That was not exactly our best game lately even though we played South Elgin tough, we played Bartlett tough," said Rams coach Nicole Miller, whose team already has won more games than last season. "We're right at this cusp. We are definitely improved upon from last year. I asked them a couple of days ago, what is it going to take to go to the next level, where we are creating havoc on a team?"

The Rams couldn't find that answer Thursday against a Glenbard South team that has been downstate the past two seasons.

Huber led the Rams (10-10, 5-4) with 15 points, making their only 3-pointer of the game in the second quarter. Emily Ryan added 7 points and 9 rebounds.