Sophomore Ellie Noble’s career-high 20 points powers Glenbard West past Downers Grove South

DOWNERS GROVE – When senior forward Makenna Yeager suffered a broken hand two weeks ago, Glenbard West lost its leading scorer and best post player, possibly for the season.

Ever since then, the Hilltoppers have been looking to replace her numbers and presence in the paint.

Enter Ellie Noble. The 6-foot sophomore forward matches Yeager’s size, and lately she’s been matching her production.

“That’s my new goal,” Noble said of being Glenbard West’s scoring leader. “My coach has really encouraged me to keep scoring and keep stepping up, and I’m trying my best to do that for my team.”

Noble’s best was more than good enough on Thursday, when she scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Hilltoppers to a 50-35 West Suburban Conference crossover victory over host Downers Grove South.

Noble, whose previous career high was 18, added four rebounds, two steals, two blocks and an assist.

“Ellie has tremendous potential and we’ve been encouraging her to be aggressive,” Glenbard West coach Kristi Faulkner said. “She did a great job on the boards, had some nice blocks and she’s very athletic, so it’s fun to see her play like that.”

The Hilltoppers (15-9) needed Noble’s performance to fend off a furious rally by the Mustangs (13-12), who trailed 30-10 after Glenbard West senior guard Julia Benjamin sank a 3-pointer early in the third quarter.

Downers South responded by sinking five 3-pointers during a 19-4 run, capped by a trey from junior guard Jakylah Thomas, that cut the deficit to 34-29 at the end of the third quarter.

The Hilltoppers regrouped during the timeout and Noble got fired up.

“I just came to the bench and everybody was like ‘We’ve got to lock in,’” Noble said. “I just really took that to heart.

“I was like, ‘I’ve got to turn this game around and bring the intensity and bring everybody’s energy up,’ so that we can win this game.”

That’s exactly what Noble and her teammates did. She made a steal at halfcourt and turned it into a layup early in the fourth quarter, the start of a stretch in which she sank six straight shots.

Noble’s pull-up jumper with 6:28 left triggered a 14-2 run that saw her record another steal-and-score, a fast-break layup, another pull-up from 14 feet and an inside basket.

It was all part of a remarkable change of fortunes that saw the Hilltoppers force six turnovers after the Mustangs committed only one in the third quarter. Glenbard West also made 8 of 12 shots in the final period.

“I felt like we came out with a lot more intensity and hustle and we were communicating more,” Noble said. “So we were making sure that we were getting to our spots and really executing.”

Indeed, the Mustangs missed all six of their three-point attempts in the fourth quarter. Senior forward Hayven Harden, who finished with a team-high 11 points, was the only Mustang to score in the fourth.

“(The Mustangs) did a nice job of adjusting,” Faulkner said. “We were really kind of packing it in and then they made a lot of 3s, so we realized we had to adjust and get out on their shooters.

“(Harden) is such a great player that we were trying to take her game away a little bit as best we could, and then just try and push the pace, trying to get a couple turnovers and then playing fast offensively. I think that helped us.”

So did the shooting of Benjamin. The St. Xavier commit, who scored her 1,000th career point earlier this season, had been in a shooting slump of late, but that ended in this one.

Benjamin scored 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting, sinking both of her three-point tries. That enabled the Hilltoppers to build their 20-point lead.

“I feel like I’ve been struggling a little bit on the outside, so it was just finding those gaps, especially knowing that they were in that 2-3, which is what we run,” Benjamin said. “I know that middle is wide open all the time.”

Faulkner was pleased to see Benjamin’s breakout.

“She did a nice job of looking for her 15-foot shot in the paint,” Faulkner said. “To get her going, especially this time of year is what we need.”

Thomas scored 10 points, while senior guard Kamryn Gillespie added eight points, seven rebounds, three assist and three steals for the Mustangs. But they had no answer for Noble, whose inside play proved to be a great complement to Benjamin’s outside shooting.

“She’s working down low and bullying some people down low that she should be doing every day,” Benjamin said. “I love to see it.”