Crystal Lake South sophomore wing Gaby Dzik enjoyed a career-high night with 31 points against Prairie Ridge on Wednesday.

On Friday, it was junior guard Mallory Glover’s turn to shine.

Glover doubled her previous best with 14 points and knocked down 6 of 7 shots as South held off Hampshire 58-50 in the Fox Valley Conference game at Gator Alley. With the victory, South (20-6, 11-4 FVC) reached 20 wins for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

Glover fouled out with 2:24 to go in the fourth quarter. At that point, however, the Gators were well on their to a win after the teams were tied at halftime (29-29) and after three quarters (42-42). After fouling out, the 5-foot-8 Glover received a huge ovation from the home crowd.

“I don’t even know. I just tried not to rush my shots. I knew that (Hampshire) would lock up on Gaby and Laken (LePage), so I tried my best to step up and I think I did a good job of doing that,” Glover said of her big offensive night. “It made me feel very happy to have my team behind me to support me.”

Glover’s shots, in addition to being accurate, also came at the perfect time. Five of her six field goals gave the Gators the lead, including a 14-foot jump shot with six minutes left to go up 46-44. From that point on, South wouldn’t trail again against Hampshire (14-13, 9-6), which went cold in the fourth on 2-of-9 shooting.

LePage, South’s top scorer this season, came out hot with eight of her 13 points in the opening quarter, but the Whip-Purs did a good job defensively on her over the last three quarters, holding her to three points in the second and two in the fourth.

Glover scored five points in each of the second and third quarters, which led the team.

“In games like this, we always talk about how other kids need to step up and contribute when times are tough or when the defense is good,” Gators coach Mark Mucha said. “And Mallory, not one ill-advised shot. Today, her role was scoring. She took advantage of it and she showed what she could with it. If anything, she should have been out there more.”

Dzik finished with a team-high 15 points for the Gators, including eight in the fourth to help put the game away. She also recorded three assists, three steals and a block.

Only a sophomore, Mucha said the bright lights don’t bother Dzik.

“She’s one of the most even-keel players, when things are going good or bad,” Mucha said of Dzik, who averaged 13.5 points a game as a freshman. “She’ll never say no to a shot either, which is a good thing. In situations, she steps up. More importantly, we talk about her offense, but as coaches we’ve noticed her defense improving too. The scoring was there last year, it’s still there, but she’s getting a lot better on defense.

“We’re just excited to see her growth for the next two-plus years.”

Hampshire senior guard Roni Dumoulin matched Dzik with 15 points, while junior guard Peyton McCarthy chipped in 11 points. Both knocked down two 3s. Senior guard Mikala Amegasse had 10 points and freshman forward Aubrey Fudala chipped in six points.

Laken LePage made three 3s, junior Gracey LePage had eight points and junior Tessa Melhuish chipped in five points for the Gators.

South outscored Hampshire 16-8 in the fourth quarter as the Whips were forced to foul late. The Gators’ lead could have been larger, if not for a 4-of-10 shooting performance from the free-throw line.

Hampshire coach Eric Samuelson felt his team’s defense was up to the challenge against a talented offensive team in South. Hampshire, though, shot just 25% (5 of 20) in the second half.

“We played hard on defense. They had four offensive rebounds total, and they’re a good offensive-rebounding team,” Samuelson said. “The game plan was, ‘We need to crash the boards,’ and I thought we did a good job. It’s hard to come here and win. (Laken) LePage is such a good shooter, and Gaby is still developing and she can score in buckets, and I thought their supporting cast did a real great job of stepping up.”

Dzik and the Gators will look to finish the regular season strong before opening the postseason as a No. 1 seed in the Class 3A Woodstock North Regional.

“We’re really excited for the playoffs,” Dzik said. “Honestly, I think we can win sectionals if we really come together as a team.”