Hinsdale Central Lady Red Devils Lose in Thanksgiving Tournament

Coach Tom McKenna devised a simple plan for the 0 and 3 Hinsdale Central Lady Red Devils on Friday - do a better job of executing the motion offense and execute on defense. 

Wheaton North Coach Dave Eaton’s plan was simple as well-play good defense and put lots of pressure on the opponent while changing up the defenses.   Something had to give, and it finally did. 

Lady Falcon senior guard Fantasia Vine got off to a hot start scoring the game’s first 6 points from outside the three-point arc.  The Falcon defense was relentless as they were led on the press by junior guard Sydney Sharkey who played tenacious defense the entire game.

The Hinsdale defense did not allow many, if any second looks for the Falcons and as a result, early on they played the role of snipers.

While the Red Devils got a number of good looks they were unable to convert on some inside shots.  Wheaton North led 15-4 at the end of the first quarter as Hinsdale senior guard, Christine Rush scored all four points.  The quarter ended with Wheaton in the middle of a 13 point run which lasted until 5:08 in the second quarter.

While the Red Devils fared a little better offensively in the second quarter, their defense wore down a bit as the Falcons put together a 35-12 halftime lead, led by Vine and her 15 points.  The Falcons were also able to score a few easier baskets off of turnovers.

 As McKenna pointed out, “We were not able to get anything going offensively.  Their pressure completely took us out of our offense.  We had to design a new offense at half-time.” 

Whether it was the new offense or just the heart of the Hinsdale girls, who knows,  but they were only outscored 14-8 in the third quarter.  They just were  not able to get any easy baskets against a defense that switched in and out of man to man all afternoon.

Vine may have finished the game with “only” 20 points, but she proved why she is a top player, not only stretching the tight Devil defense but driving to the hoop repeatedly.  She was complemented by fellow starters:  Sharkey ( 7 pts), Maddie Baillie (4pts), Lauren Graham (3pts)  and Mandy Traversa (3pts).  Freshman Chrissy Baird contributed 6 points off the bench.

While the Red Devils may have been confounded by the Wheaton defense, they never gave up.  Avery Anderson’s repeated drives through the paint were evidence of this as she finished with 9 hard-earned points to lead the team.  Jenna Broz, Lily Sarros, Mary Byrne and Jen Loiselle each contributed 4 points, most coming inside the paint.

In a battle of mostly bench players, the Red Devils salvaged the fourth quarter 16-2.  There was no give by either team despite the final score (51-36) and the edge which reached as high as 32 points a few different times. 

Both teams endured some early-season hiccups  and there are many bright spots, even though it was just not meant to be for the Lady Red Devils.

Coach McKenna considers this as good a tune-up for the upcoming conference season.  Despite their struggles, the girls’ spirits never wavered.