It was appropriate that Saturday night’s meeting between fifth-ranked Lyons Township and No. 10 Glenbard West turned into a matinee in order to accommodate Glenbard West’s student dance–Mistletoe Madness.
Especially after the host Hilltoppers kissed Lyons’ nine-game winning streak goodbye with a 68-61 overtime victory. Leading the upset was senior guard Kristi Faulkner, who had a step on the Lions’ (9-1, 3-1) defense all night en route to a game-high 32 points.
“We’ve never played at this time,” Faulkner said, referring to the 4 p.m. start. “But it didn’t really matter what time we played. It was a game and we had to be ready. I didn’t think I’d be going (to the dance) if we didn’t win. . . . I definitely wouldn’t be going.”
Only 8 minutes into the West Suburban Silver contest, there was little doubt it would go down to the wire. The first quarter alone, which ended 16-16, featured eight lead changes.
The second quarter featured more of the same: three more lead changes, seven ties and Faulkner scoring at will. This time, the Hilltoppers (10-1, 3-1) were able to grab a 34-32 lead on a Faulkner jumper with 1:27 left in the half.
To earn that breathing room, Glenbard West shot 13 of 26 from the field and received more than half of its offense from Faulkner (18 points) to offset Lyons standouts Katie Meyers and Amanda Papuga. Meyers led the Lions with 22 points and eight rebounds while Papuga scored 17.
Despite Faulkner’s golden touch, Lyons managed to build its biggest lead of the game (48-42) on Papuga’s three-pointer with 1:31 left in the third. But the Hilltoppers went on a 9-0 run that ended with a Faulkner steal and layup 1:37 into the fourth for a 51-48 cushion.
A three-point play by Papuga with 2:50 remaining in regulation wiped out West’s 53-50 lead and ended a 1-for-7 Lions drought from the field. More importantly, it sent the game to overtime, which almost wasn’t necessary had Allison Clark’s (15 points, seven rebounds) putback of a Papuga miss not rimmed out at the buzzer.
Another misfire from close range by Clark early on set the tone for Lyons in the overtime while a three-pointer by Jessica Wilhite (18 points) proved to be the backbreaker. Wilhite’s bomb, coming with 2:42 left, gave Glenbard West a 58-53 edge.
“I’m a strong believer that things happen for a reason,” Lyons coach Dawn Schabacker said. “Usually there’s not a team that doesn’t go undefeated in conference. It looks like that’s going to happen again.”
