Tigers struggle through emotional week

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Updated: March 10, 2012 8:35AM

Elmwood Park’s girls basketball team just finished a tough week. Amid losing three games on the road and playing through injuries and illness, the Tigers had to fight through sadness to play Thursday night’s game at Glenbard South as junior Gabby Uvelli’s father, Mike, died the day before.

“I understand that the girls’ heads may not have been completely with the game,” said Elmwood Park head coach Brian Linhart.

“News had trickled to the girls by that evening and in school the next morning. I didn’t have the chance to get to know Mike that well, but (Gabby’s) mom, Melanie, is our athletic director’s administrative assistant, so I have had the pleasure of knowing her over the past five years, and just about all the girls on the team are close with Gabby and have gotten to know her dad, so it hit a lot of them pretty hard.

“My heart goes out to Gabby, her brother, Joe, and Mel. To say that this tragedy didn’t affect my girls at all would be naïve.”

The Tigers (8-18, 3-9) fell to Glenbard South 59-45 to finish out the week on Feb. 2. Junior Olga Lipiszko led the team with 17 points on the night while classmate Carrie Pilman stepped up big time with a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds to go along with three blocks.

Metro Suburban Conference leading scorer Joanna Bukowinski was held off the scoresheet for the first time since freshman year as the Raiders focused their defense on denying her the ball at every turn.

A 22-point third quarter by the Raiders helped put the Tigers behind the eight ball after heading into the halftime break down by just four.

The week began with a 50-40 loss at Maine East on Jan. 30, in their only nonconference game of the week. Another big third quarter proved to be the difference in the game.

Elmwood Park was up by one point at halftime, but the Blue Demons scored 21 points in the third that put the game out reach, heading into the fourth. Lipiszko led the team with 19 points in the game making 5-of-15 from three-point range. Bukowinski added 11 while senior Ade Maron scored eight. Pilman did her job on the boards, grabbing 11 rebounds on the night.

“When we play hard, we look amazing,” Linhart said. “We are intense, aggressive, and physical, but the second we take a play off, it’s like a domino effect. It gets worse, and worse, and worse, and soon we are in too big of a hole to dig ourselves out of.

“We are a very good team, and I am confident that we have the capability to get on the right path for the state tournament.”

The following night the Tigers couldn’t get past Riverside-Brookfield as the Bulldogs came out on top 62-48. Elmwood Park recovered from a tough start to draw within four points midway through the second quarter, but second chance points allowed the home side to pull away as the Bulldogs had 18 offensive boards in the game. Maron led the team with 13 points while Bukowinski notched 12 and Lipiszko scored nine.

“Ade has been playing really well as of late,” Linhart said. “It seems like every time she drives she is able to get into the lane. It’s her senior year, and she is leaving it all on the court.”

Fatigue was an issue for the Tigers as they were missing senior Catherine Conte and junior Becca Schmidt due to concussions and Uvelli with a viral infection.

Junior Lynette Betancourt and Pilman are battling through knee injuries to stay on the court to help the team as well.