Rheayanna Ferguson and Glenbard South, fueled by stingy defense, are 22-2, poised to make noise in playoffs

Rheayanna Ferguson’s favorite part of basketball is defense, which is a good thing for the Glenbard South junior guard.

Few teams defend like the Raiders.

“I love playing defense,” Ferguson said. “Stopping players from scoring, making big stops and hustling, I love taking on those challenges.”

Glenbard South is doing quite a number guarding teams this season. The Raiders are giving up just a tick over 26 points per game. It’s a big reason why they are 22-2 and 10-0 and leading the Upstate Eight Conference.

Glenbard South is even stingier defensively in conference play, allowing under 20 points per game.

“We get up for every game, and we get after teams,” Glenbard South coach Eric Daca said. “We have a lot of athletes, and we have a lot of length. Rheayanna and Kaitlin [Erickson] as our guards are extremely quick – to have two point guards is kind of a rarity and they are able to cover guards. Jamie Mizwicki and Callie Hardtke our wings are 5-foot-10, 5-foot-11, if a pass gets by those two guards they have the wingspan. And then we have Brooklynn [Moore] down low who is a physical force.

“We have multiple players top to bottom who allow us to be effective.”

Ferguson, Mizwicki and Hardtke are part of a large junior class now in their third year of varsity, and it’s starting to click.

It’s certainly good to have Ferguson back.

A torn ACL cost Ferguson the second half of her freshman season. She waited two months for surgery but was able to make a swift recovery. Ferguson was back on the court seven months after surgery.

“It was a grind,” Ferguson said. “Coaches kept me uplifted going to practice and I had my family every step of the way. A lot of it you couldn’t control – the mental aspect and the doubt whether I would make it back and be as good as I was before. It turns out I came back better. It was hard to watch everybody play but once I got back it was all worth it."

Daca said that Ferguson this season is playing with full confidence, no longer wearing a knee brace, and is one of the Raiders' captains.

“Something we talked about freshman year is we needed a defensive stopper. She wanted that, cherished it and stepped up,” Daca said. “She recognizes that when you go hard on defense it turns into offense.”

Glenbard South has rarely been challenged in conference play, but the Raiders have shown they can meet a challenge.

They beat Downers Grove North at Christmas at Wheaton North, and lost to 2024 Class 4A state team Waubonsie Valley by just four in the Wheaton North final.

Daca noted that the Raiders finished that game with no point guard, with Ferguson in foul trouble and Erickson injured.

“We walked out of that game recognizing that we played well and gave them a battle,” Daca said. “I think we showed that we don’t need to be scared of anyone.”

The Raiders have two league games left against Elmwood Park and Glenbard East, and a nonconference game with Hinsdale South, before regional play begins.

They’re determined to make noise once that starts.

Glenbard South won a regional last year, but lost to Trinity 39-31 in a sectional semifinal. The Raiders are not that far removed from making back-to-back state appearances in 2018 and 2019.

“Noise, we’ve used that word many times. We are making noise and people are hearing it,” Daca said. “We’ve been talking since last year that we won a regional and got into sectionals but unfortunately we did not play well. Some of it was new situations, sophomores and juniors playing, maybe the game was too big. This year I think we’re playing with a new level of confidence.”