PARK RIDGE — Glenbrook South’s Ashley Oldshue was whistled for her second foul with six minutes, one second remaining in the second quarter of the Titans’ 38-25 win against the Maine South girls basketball team on Friday.
In most cases, a player like Oldshue — a senior center battling in the paint against a physical team like the Hawks — would be taken out of the game immediately and then she’d spend the rest of the half on the bench.
Glenbrook South coach Steve Weissenstein didn’t do that, though. He trusted Oldshue to play with intelligence and left her in the Central Suburban South game, which Maine South led 11-6 at that point.
“If she got her third, I’d take her out, but she’s just too valuable,” Weissenstein said. “We were having a problem scoring. She’s our leading scorer. I’m not going to take our leading scorer out of the game when we’re having a problem scoring. And she’s one of the smartest kids in the school. She knows not to get her third foul. It’s happened to her a couple times this year, and she’s fought through it.”
Oldshue slightly altered how she played during the final six minutes of the quarter.
“There’s little things, like when we’re shooting I like to go for the basket and every now and then I get an over-the-back call. Something like that I kind of have to dial back,” Oldshue said.
Another example is Oldshue can’t be as aggressive on defense, she added, but many defensive principles — like going straight up when there’s contact — don’t change.
Oldshue (14 points, five rebounds) was careful in the final six minutes of the second quarter. Not only did she not pick up her third foul, she also turned the momentum of the game by scoring the last four points of the second quarter. She rebounded a miss by junior forward Caitlin Morrison (13 points, nine rebounds, three blocks) and scored, then hit two free throws to cut Maine South’s lead to 15-13.
“It really felt like momentum all of a sudden shifted,” Oldshue said. “I think it was just a little confidence booster. … Obviously 13 isn’t a high score, but it helped us get a positive mind-set in the second half.”
The Titans (17-2, 5-1) controlled the second half from the outset. Morrison converted an old-fashioned three-point play to start, then Oldshue scored Glenbrook South’s next 10 points to turn a one-point lead into a 26-17 advantage.
Oldshue showed off her offensive versatility during that stretch. She scored on a jump hook in the lane, a power move where she absorbed contact and finished, a putback on an offensive rebound and a jumper she banked off the glass.
Glenbrook South’s victory was never in doubt after that.
Oldshue’s four points at the end of the second quarter “were big because they had a six-point lead and we cut it two at halftime,” Weissenstein said. “[We] made a nice run to start the third and that was kind of the game right there.”
Game notes
• Maine South struggled to hit shots throughout the contest. The Hawks (8-11, 2-4) were 4-for-20 on two-point field goals and 3-for-16 on three-pointers.
• Maine South’s leading scorer was junior guard Jackie Ostojic, who had seven points.
• Glenbrook South sophomore point guard Carie Weinman finished with six points, seven rebounds and five steals.