Makenna Yeager’s 22-point night helps Glenbard West to first sectional title since 1999 with win over Batavia

ST CHARLES — Back on Jan. 5, Glenbard West senior Makenna Yeager went down with a broken left hand, forcing her to miss six weeks of playing time in her final basketball season.

But excluding the tape wrap she had around her left wrist, as well as her pointer and middle fingers, it was hard to tell that she missed any time from the way she was driving to the basket against Batavia in a Class 4A St. Charles East Sectional final.

Or from the way she was making nearly every shot she took.

After shooting 7-of-8 from the floor, Yeager’s 22-point outing helped lead the Hilltoppers to a 46-39 victory over the Bulldogs to claim the sectional title.

“It’s just such an exciting feeling,” Yeager said. “We all believed, and that’s what got us here. But we’ve just got to keep going because we’re not satisfied with just this. We want to keep going.”

It’s the Hilltoppers first sectional title since 1999, a team that featured current coach Kristi Faulkner, who empathetically gave the Glenbard West crowd two thumbs up shortly before the final buzzer rang out.

“I’m just so proud of these girls,” Faulkner said. “The community support around the program is really fun. To still see familiar faces around here like former teammates and former coach (Jim Pecilunas) is really special.”

After holding a slim lead for the entire first half, the Hilltoppers (23-12) started to pull away midway through the third quarter. After the Bulldogs pulled within three points of the lead, Glenbard West pulled away with some key finishes from Yeager and defensive stops to finish the quarter with a 39-27 lead, their largest of the game.

“Getting those defensive stops helped us a lot because it translated over to our offense,” Yeager said. “It was a big point we had in just settling the ball and not taking it for granted, especially against an aggressive team like Batavia.”

Along with Yeager, senior Julia Benjamin finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Ellie Noble put up seven points in the first half to pace the Hilltoppers to a 25-21 lead entering halftime.

“It’s been so fun to watch these kids come together and play together and believe in each other and themselves,” Faulkner said. “That’s what makes this so special. They’re doing all of this for each other, and they’re doing it with that belief that they can make this run, and we’re excited to keep playing.”

After entering halftime trailing by just four points, Batavia (24-10) couldn’t keep up with the Hilltoppers in the second half due to most of their players dealing with foul trouble.

“Overall it just felt like we were on our heels for most of the game,” Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. “We never quite got into a rhythm that we liked offensively or defensively. Even if it wasn’t an immediate bucket, there was just always something that kept us on our heels.”

Senior Kaidyn King provided a majority of the offense for the Bulldogs, putting up 18 points on the night.

“She sparked us early,” Jensen said. “There’s so many ways that she can affect a game, and its convenient when she can knock down some shots.”

Despite not getting their second consecutive sectional title, Jensen said that he was very proud of his group for getting to their third straight sectional title game, especially considering the questions that his team faced heading into the season.

“Nobody knew what was going to happen with this group,” Jensen said. “It felt like when we lost Brooke (Carlson), Kylee (Gerht) and Addi (Lowe), there were a lot of questions about what we were going to be. They didn’t even know what they were going to be.

“But what they did is they worked their tails off all year long and were never really afraid of any moment. This was a strong, smart, mentally-tough and gutsy group of kids. It doesn’t get a whole lot better than that.”