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Girls Basketball: Glenbrook South edges Niles West; Jewell Loyd scores 31 in final game
Updated: February 21, 2012 10:55PM
Glenbrook South’s best player and team leader Colleen McDonagh left the game and the building with an injured wrist late in the second quarter Tuesday.
The third-seeded Titans made sure McDonagh has at least a chance to continue her career with their 48-46 win over second-seeded Niles West in the sectional semifinals at New Trier.
“It was a big concern,” said Molly McDonagh, Colleen’s younger sister. “But we had to block that out and pull together.”
Glenbrook South led by six when Colleen McDonagh went down and never trailed after she left. In fact, the No. 22-ranked Titans (23-7) even built an 11-point lead in the third quarter.
Of course, Jewell Loyd made it interesting in the fourth.
The Notre Dame-bound senior hit shot after shot, and her three-pointer with 2:07 to go in the game got the No. 20 Wolves (22-9) within two, 43-41.
But Abby Keller followed with a three-point play and later with a layup to give Glenbrook South a 48-43 advantage with 18.7 seconds remaining.
Loyd again scored and had a halfcourt heave to win the game, but the ball hit the side of the backboard. She finished with a game-best 31 points, 16 of which came in the fourth quarter.
“What can you say about Jewell?” asked Glenbrook South coach Steve Weissenstein, whose club will play for its first sectional title since 2004 when it faces No. 14 Loyola on Thursday.
Molly McDonagh felt privileged to beat Loyd, who will go down as one of the best players to ever play in Illinois.
“She’s a fantastic player,” said McDonagh, who scored nine in the win. “I had never beaten her before. This is such an accomplishment.”
Despite playing with four fouls for the entire fourth quarter, Keller scored seven of her team-high 21 in the final eight minutes.
“I give our girls so much credit,” said Weissenstein, whose Titans lost both games to Niles West during the CSL South season. “They didn’t quit. Every time we needed a basket, someone came through.”
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