Kopp, Koziol lead Hinsdale South past Willowbrook

Hinsdale South turned to a veteran, a rookie and some sizzling shooting to remain a game out of first place in the West Suburban Gold on Tuesday.

Senior guard Sydney Kopp scored 26 points and freshman Emily Koziol added 17 points off the bench as Hinsdale South overcame a 33-31 halftime deficit to defeat Willowbrook 73-68 in Villa Park.

Kopp hit one of nine 3-pointers - on 18 attempts - by the Hornets midway through the third quarter to give the visitors the lead for good at 39-37.

"I know I need to score for us to win, but I also know I can't do it on my own," Kopp said. "So I need to create for my teammates, too. I know that if I give them a good pass my teammates will hit the shot in the end."

Willowbrook (3-6, 2-3) scored the first 6 points of the game, but Hinsdale South countered with a 24-8 run that featured a pair of 3-pointers by Kopp to take a 24-14 lead after eight minutes. The Warriors answered with a 19-7 run of their own in the second quarter to take the lead at the break.

The Warriors' lead was short-lived, however. Hinsdale South (7-4, 2-1) buried five 3-pointers in the third quarter to build a 50-41 lead and led by as many as 17 points in the fourth before Kopp exited with her fifth foul.

"We have to make layups, we have to make stuff around the basket," Willowbrook coach Terry Harrell said. "But give them credit. They shot lights out. We moved to trap the ball, they swung it around and whoever was on the other end of the swing was hitting the shot."

With Kopp on the bench, Willowbrook got within 70-64 with 29.2 seconds remaining.

"We finally did get No. 35 (Kopp) to leave the game, we just didn't hit the shots," Harrell said. "We're playing hard. We're playing relatively well. Just not well enough."

Koziol made two free throws with 26.8 remaining to put the game out of reach.

"We have five seniors who start, so I'm like the sixth man," Koziol said. "But I don't feel like I'm a freshman on the floor."

Teri Jackson added 13 points and Tatyana Presley had 10 for Hinsdale South, which suffered its only league loss to Proviso East.

"Proviso East was a tough game," Kopp said. "I'm glad we play them again on our own court. If we really play well, we could have a chance of beating them the second time around."

Dani Velasquez and Kalyn Konrath each had 16 points for Willowbrook. Josie Zabran added 13 points and Alyssa Spada had 12.