Niles West Battles 44-29 Past Glenbrook South, Advances to Sectional Final

Niles West junior guard Jewell Loyd said it best after Niles West’s 44-29 victory over Glenbrook South: “Everything’s changed.”

Glenbrook South’s box-and-one defense held Loyd to only 20 points in Monday’s IHSA Class 4A Park Ridge (Maine East) Sectional semi-final. But the difference in the game was Loyd’s teammates.

Niles West’s unheralded role players came through in the second half and the Wolves advanced to the sectional finals for the second straight year where they will face CSL South rival Maine South.

“The thing that beat us tonight was their other girls,” Glenbrook South coach Steve Weissentstein said. “They did a really nice job of getting a lot of offensive rebounds. I thought their second shots were what really hurt us.”

Loyd and Niles West came out ready to play in the first quarter. The 5-foot-10 junior guard shot 4-for-6 from the field in the first quarter and the Wolves enjoyed a six-point cushion.

Still Glenbrook South exploited Niles West’s zone defense through the first quarter. Abby Keller did a nice job of finding open space and scored 10 of the Titans’ first 12 points.

 “We started out on a match-up zone trying to take away their interior and find their shooters on the outside,” Niles West coach Tony Konsewicz said. “When they started going high-low we had to make an adjustment.”

Niles West switched into a triangle-and-two defense, focusing on point guard Colleen McDonagh and forward Ali Shaw. The adjustment worked as the two combined for only four points on the game.

A back-and-forth second quarter saw Niles West maintain a six-point lead into the intermission. But Niles West grabbed the momentum at the start of the second half. On consecutive possessions, Niles West’s Casey Nakawatase and Dashae Shumate scored easy putbacks after collecting offensive rebounds from Loyd’s missed jumpers.

The layups put Niles West up by 12 points, 34-22, and Glenbrook South never cut the lead to less than nine points from that point forward.

“Beginning of the year we were giving up rebounds by the bushel on the defensive end,” Konsewicz said. “As the season’s gone along we started getting better at the defensive end. Tonight on the offensive end it was just outstanding.”

Loyd didn’t hit a shot from the field in the final 15 minutes of the game, missing her last seven attempts. But her teammates picked up the slack. They scored 17 of Niles west’s 23 second-half points. Shumate had 10 points for the Wolves and Laurie Dijohn chipped in with six points on two first-quarter three-pointers.

Glenbrook South still couldn’t put together anything offensively in the fourth quarter, stymied by a swarming Niles West defense. They missed their first five shots and Niles West held them scoreless for the first four minutes before Kelly Minx drove inside for a layup and completed the three-point play.

“It comes down to heart and we have great seniors stepping up. Nicole Moy’s defense is outstanding,” Loyd said. “She shut down [New Trier’s] Maggie Lyon and she definitely shut down [Colleen McDonaugh]. That’s great. Whenever we have great defense that’s when we win.”

Glenbrook South scored only nine points on four made field goals after halftime. Niles West led throughout the entire game.

Niles West will face off against Maine South for the third time this season in Thursday’s sectional final. The Hawks have had Niles West’s number this season, beating the Wolves by double-digits in both regular-season meetings.

“I’m gonna say [Maine South] better be ready. Everything’s changed,” Loyd said. “This is a new season right now and anything can happen so we’re going in there and we’re coming out with a ‘W,’ I hope.”