Jamie Mizwicki, a senior forward for Glenbard South, is planning to continue her hoops career in college after graduation.

She also wants to follow in the footsteps of her mother, Lisa, become a teacher and major in special education.

Mizwicki said her interest in teaching came originally from her mom, and that bond was strengthened when she became involved in working with special needs children in a gym class at her school.

“I just fell in love with it,” she said.

That’s all coming up in the near future for the senior. For right now though, on the court, she’s focused on contributing to the continued success of her team.

So far, so good, to say the least.

The Raiders won their 11th straight game Tuesday night in a 50-36 victory over visiting South Elgin. It was an Upstate Eight crossover matchup between the top two squads in their respective divisions. Glenbard South was 12-0 in the East coming in, while the Storm was 11-1 in the West.

Glenbard South, now 25-4 overall, was able to get the triumph despite an exceptional game from 5-foot-11 South Elgin junior Olivia Miller. Miller scored a game-high 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

“She has one of the best shots on our team,” said South Elgin coach Emily Driessen. “We’ve been working on her kind of going into contact and finishing, and we know she can. She went out and did it tonight, and I’m so proud of her.”

The Raiders were just 1 of 10 from 3-point range in the first half, but still led at the break 24-19. They attempted only three more 3s the rest of the way, attacking the basket relentlessly after intermission.

The Storm, though, went on a run to open the second half, cutting the deficit to three. Then Glenbard South suffered a key loss early in the third stanza when senior Callie Hardtke, a standout forward and defensive stopper, had to leave the game after a collision and hard fall to the floor.

But Mizwicki and junior Kaitlin Erickson picked up the slack. They each scored six of their team-high 12 points in the third period, as Glenbard South went on a 14-3 run to extend the advantage to 40-26 entering the fourth.

After getting some treatment from the training staff, Hardtke was able to return to the contest. She posted a solid line of seven points, six rebounds and three steals.

The senior said she injured her knee but was able to shake it off.

“I feel great,” Hardtke said after the game. “Just came off of a conference championship win. It’s amazing, especially for us seniors. We have a lot of seniors, so being undefeated (is quite an accomplishment).

“We just got better defensively tonight (as the game went on). We take pride in our defense, and we were able to turn the game around.”

Senior Rheayanna Ferguson scored 11 points for the Raiders.

South Elgin (17-14) made a run late in the fourth quarter behind Miller, Molly Stahl (12 points) and Taleah Banner (11 points) and got the lead under double-digits, but ran out of time.

“I was proud of our first-half performance,” said Driessen. “We keep saying that we have to play for 32 minutes, and we had a couple of lapses of judgment that let (Glenbard South) pull away.

“We were very proud to be here in the championship game despite facing a lot of injuries this season. Games like this build our character and our program.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20260210/girls-basketball/girls-basketball-glenbard-south-pulls-away-from-south-elgin-in-matchup-of-upstate-eights-best/