The Glen Crest eighth-grade girls basketball team will go into the conference tournament as undefeated regular-season champions. The Spartans finished the regular season 13-0 (10-0 in conference games) to earn the DuPage Metro Valley Association regular-season title.
The conference tournament will open Tuesday at Glen Crest. If the Spartans win the first game, they will play for the conference tournament championship on Thursday, also at Glen Crest.
Glen Crest coach Danny Sheridan was not sure what to expect from this year’s team because they had not had a seventh-grade season due to the pandemic.
Sheridan knew something special was happening after the first home game against Herrick Middle School. Glen Crest was down 23-12 at the end of three quarters but outscored Herrick 14-1 in the final quarter to get the win. Overall, the Spartans won three games on the last shot or in the last few seconds.
“Winning the close games gave them some confidence and, each game, they got more and more confident,” Sheridan said. “This team has a lot of spirit; they’re high energy and they cheer for each other. They have a lot of fun but they know when to get serious.”
The eighth-grade team includes: Abby Baygood, Kate Bruhl, Emma Briggs, Olivia Cernauske, Teagan Cloutier, Genevieve Corbin, Jillian DeMayo, Gabia Judikas, Kylie LaBarbera, Anesa Maloku, Kylie Maline, Jamie Mizwicki, and Molly Purse.