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Girls Basketball: Glenbard East earns win over Larkin
Updated: December 12, 2011 9:49PM
In a game featuring two teams so desperate for a win, it figures that it would come down to the final seconds.
Glenbard East’s girls basketball team led by as many as 13 points in the first half of Monday’s Oswego Holiday Classic game against Larkin, only to find the Royals within striking distance in the final minute.
Two missed three-pointers that could have tied the game in the final minutes, however, helped Glenbard East pick up its first win of the season, 47-43.
“I think our kids were just so excited,” Glenbard East coach Jen Ennis said. “We’ve been craving a win. When you have such a young team and they’ve been dying to win and it’s right in front of them, I called them eight-year-olds at a birthday party in the locker room at halftime. I’m really proud of their effort tonight, even though it got a little crazy.”
Glenbard East (1-9) looked to be in control at the start of the fourth quarter. A technical foul against Larkin (1-8) helped the Rams grab a 37-28 lead early on. But Larkin would not quit. Three times in the fourth, a Victoria Patterson bucket helped the Royals cut the lead to four.
Then a driving lay-up from Abigail Alvarez and a three-pointer from Jill Casebeer with a minute left sliced the lead to 44-43.
“I just encouraged them to continue to dig,” Rosary coach Tissonie Simmons said. “We’re a comeback team. We’ve proven it time and time again that we have what it takes to come back. We’re still struggling to finish. We just have to get it going a little bit earlier and we can turn things around.”
The difference for Glenbard East was welcoming senior guard Maggie Angst back from injury. In her first start since Thanksgiving, she paced the Rams with 15 points.
“There’s a big difference when your senior ball handler is in the game and when she isn’t,” Ennis said. “She brings a spark to us that we’ve been missing.”
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