Girls basketball: Greta Dani, Hinsdale Central hold off DeKalb rally

DeKALB – Even though Hinsdale Central had the height advantage, the DeKalb girls basketball team was determined to play strong inside.

After the Barbs dominated the offensive glass in the first half, Greta Dani and the Red Devils solidified their inside presence and held off a DeKalb rally for a 56-51 win Thursday in the regular-season finale for both teams.

“They definitely had a different style of play than we’re used to,” Dani said. “We needed to adapt. I feel like for me, because my shots weren’t going in, I needed to rethink what I need to do for my team to win this game, which was rebounding and boxing out.”

The Barbs (15-16) pulled down 11 offensive rebounds in the first half but only five in the second half. Dani had nine rebounds for the Red Devils (10-19), five blocks and two steals to go with two points.

DeKalb took 60 shots in the game to Hinsdale Central’s 26, but shot just 33% while the Red Devils shot 57% from the floor.

“I don’t think we were locked in,” DeKalb coach Brad Bjelk said. “I think we were missing some communication, missing some rotations and a little bit of focus on defense. Offensively, we were scoring well, we just needed to get some stops.”

DeKalb led 37-36 late in the third quarter and trailed 40-39 after three, but Hinsdale Central started the fourth on an 11-2 run to open up its biggest lead of the game at 51-41 with 3:46 left. Dani upped her game in the fourth quarter, getting five boards and three blocks in the final eight minutes.

“I tell her at practice, she’s our rim protector,” Red Devils coach Ryan Sasis said. “She does a really good job doing that, using her height. She’s 6-2, but on top of that she knows how to use that height to protect the rim. And when she gets going on defense that usually translates to good things on offense.”

After a back-and-forth first quarter, Hinsdale Central built a 23-14 lead with 6:14 left in the first half behind lights-out, 3-point shooting, making its first five shots. Luella Sheehan sank two early in the frame and finished with 18 points, 10 in the fourth quarter.

The Barbs tied things at 25 after Cayla Evans sank a pair of 3-pointers on her way to a 13-point, six-rebound performance. They eventually retook the lead at 35-34 in the third after a Krystal Baggett layup capped a 7-0 run.

Kiki Mitchell, Brytasi Long and Evans each had six rebounds, while Baggett and Alicia Johnson each had five. Long scored 15 off the bench to lead the Barbs, who finished with a 33-27 edge on the boards.

“They were the bigger team than us, they had more size than us and we were still able to rebound,” Bjelk said. “We pursue the ball and that’s what I encourage them to do. We had to get shots because of the turnovers and at least shots give us the chance to rebound. And we were doing a good job of getting rebounds, putting them back, getting other scoring opportunities.”

DeKalb turned the ball over 16 times in the game. Even with Hinsdale Central running a press, Bjelk said most of the turnovers were preventable and can be fixed before the playoffs start Monday against Wheaton North in a Class 4A DeKalb Regional semifinal.

“The nice thing about the turnovers is that most of them are self-inflicted,” Bjelk said. “If we can get that right, I think we’ll be in a good position on Monday.”

Julia Sherpitis scored 13 off the bench for the Red Devils, while Grace Dolan and Katherine Skinner each had 11.

The Red Devils face Morton in a Class 4A Oak Park-River Forest Regional semifinal Tuesday.

“I couldn’t wait for this game because it kind of just gives us an idea when we see a team similar to this as we go down the road in the playoffs,” Sasis said. “It was a good experience for our girls.”