Hinsdale South Hits Stride in Win over DeKalb

Hinsdale South coach Vince Doran said the Hornets played their best boys basketball game of the season on Wednesday night against DeKalb.

"We were clicking on all cylinders," Doran said. "The kids did a great job."

It's hard to argue with his assessment after Hinsdale South won its third game in a row by double digits at the DeKalb Holiday Tournament. The Hornets toppled the host Barbs 54-36.

Hinsdale South (7-4) led by 25 at one point in the fourth quarter before bringing in the reserves.

In the first half, the Hornets took control with an aggressive zone defense that bewildered the Barbs (3-8). DeKalb missed numerous open looks and struggled to gain position on the boards.

Hinsdale South center Brock Benson did most of the damage on offense, scoring 12 first-half points on 6-of-9 shooting and adding six rebounds. The Hornets hit on 14-of-26 shots in the first half, just slightly over 50 percent.

The Barbs were 6-of-24 from the field and 1-of-5 from the line. The Hornets held a 32-13 advantage at the half.

After Benson left the game early in the third quarter because of foul trouble, Hinsdale South's Andy Nkansah stepped in to fill the void. He scored eight third-quarter points and grabbed eight rebounds to help the Hornets to a 47-22 lead.

Nkansah, a 6-1 senior forward, finished with nine points and 14 rebounds.

"He (Nkansah) really went up on the glass tonight," Doran said. "He gave it his all and he certainly doesn't lack heart."

Hinsdale South made 5-of-14 shots and 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the third quarter. Backup forward Keith Reidy contributed with four points in the quarter, and George added a pair of free throws to finish with 10 points.

"The good thing about us is we let our 'D' work for us," Nkansah said. "I feel like we play as a team."

The Hornets have caught fire in the last few weeks, winning six of their last seven games (their only loss in that stretch being to conference power Proviso East). Two of their previous losses were against perennial powers Benet and Downers Grove South.

"Playing against competition like that early in the season gets you ready for tournaments like this," Doran said. "We're really playing well right now."

Center Andre Harris led the Barbs with six points--all of them coming in the first half. Guard Kyle Berg was right behind him with five points.

The Hornets' win moves them on to the semifinal round Thursday night, where they will play Chicago Vocational, the winner of Pool B earlier in the day. 

"CVS is a really strong team," Doran said. "They play in the best conference in the state, but we'll be ready."