Basketball Game Preview: Downers Grove North Trojans vs. Glenbard West Hilltoppers

Downers Grove North is 8-2 against Glenbard West since February of 2020 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The Downers Grove North Trojans will square off against the Glenbard West Hilltoppers at 5:30 p.m. Downers Grove North will be strutting in after a victory while Glenbard West will be coming in after a defeat.

Downers Grove North is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Oak Park-River Forest: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Downers Grove North blew Oak Park-River Forest out of the water with a 65-15 final score. The Trojans have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won seven games by 25 points or more this season.

Campbell Thulin

Steals

01/14/25 @ Oak Park-River Forest	3
01/11/25 @ Lyons	2
01/10/25 @ Proviso West	3
01/07/25 vs Glenbard West	4
12/28/24 vs Glenbrook South	2

Downers Grove North's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Campbell Thulin, who went 7 for 10 en route to 20 points and three steals, and Adysen Fanta, who went 5 of 9 on her way to 12 points and four steals. Thulin has been hot, having posted two or more steals the last seven times she's played. Another player making a difference was Elizabeth Murphy, who went 5 of 8 on her way to 10 points and five rebounds.

Meanwhile, Glenbard West was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Thursday as they fell 47-42 to Lyons. While losing is never fun, the Hilltoppers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 70th, while the Lions are ranked third).

Downers Grove North is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 14-6 record this season. The wins came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 26.5 points per game. As for Glenbard West, their loss dropped their record down to 13-8.

Downers Grove North was able to grind out a solid win over Glenbard West in their previous meeting last Tuesday, winning 38-31. The rematch might be a little tougher for Downers Grove North since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.