Glenbard West upsets St. Charles East in overtime

ST. CHARLES – Points were at a premium during Tuesday’s Class 4A girls basketball sectional semifinal between Glenbard West and host St. Charles East.

Senior guard/forward Makenna Yeager, who missed the Hilltoppers’ first meeting with St. Charles East with a broken hand, scored the last three points of regulation to force overtime.

During the four-minute extra session, the Hilltoppers (22-12) held the top-seeded Saints scoreless and received just enough offense to pull off a stunning 35-32 victory.

Glenbard West will try to capture its first sectional title since 1999 against No. 2 seed Batavia, a winner over Wheaton North, on Thursday in St. Charles.

“It was a great basketball game, and we’re happy to come out on top,” Hilltoppers coach Kristi Faulkner said. “It’s fun to be a part of it. I’m proud of the girls.”

Yeager, who led all players with 14 points, was glad to be a part of it — period.

“I was really excited coming into the game, having missed the first one,” Yeager said. “We were so close against them (a 45-36 loss) the first time. It’s always hard to beat a team twice. We all had confidence. We had to close out that game, especially when it went to overtime.”

Glenbard took the lead for good at 34-32 on senior guard Lauren Escalante’s inside bucket with 2:28 left in the extra session.

Julia Benjamin (eight points) split a pair of free throws with 1:13 remaining to give the Hilltoppers a 35-32 lead.

From there, the Hilltoppers misfired on six consecutive free throw attempts, leaving the door open for the Saints.

However, the Saints (26-7) had shooting woes of their own, missing all six of their field goal attempts in overtime, including a potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“I’m pretty sure we did not score for the last eight minutes of the game,” said Saints coach Katie Claussner. “We’re a team that averages 50-60 points a game. It’s unfortunate to lose that way, and it really hurts.”

The Saints led 15-12 at halftime despite making just 1-of-10 free throws.

For the game, St. Charles East finished 14 of 47 from the field (30%), including 1 for 14 from 3-point range, while hitting 3-of-16 foul shots.

“We played the worst offensive game of the season, and we were up pretty much the entire game except for the last minute and overtime,” Claussner said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t buy a basket.

“You would think that on our home court where we’re practicing every day, we’d have a little more of an advantage there, but tonight was not our night.”

Trailing 32-27 with 4:13 left, the Hilltoppers inched closer on a steal and layup from Hannah Roberts prior to Yeager’s free throw and tying basket.

“In a game like this, somebody is going to be a difference maker who maybe normally is not,” said Faulkner, whose team received a seven-point, 19-rebound effort from sophomore Ellie Noble. “I’m so proud of those kids.”

Addie Schilb paced the Saints with 12 points, nine rebounds and three steals, while Brooklyn Schilb added eight points and eight rebounds.

“It’s not the outcome we wanted, but we went 14-0 in conference for the first time in history,” Claussner said. “We won back-to-back regional championships for the first time since 2005-06, and we tied for the most wins in program history.

“All in all, it was a fantastic season.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250225/girls-basketball/girls-basketball-glenbard-west-upsets-no-1-seed-st-charles-east-in-ot/