Batavia drops hard-fought game

Hinsdale South's hard work practicing its defense immediately paid dividends Thursday night.

Coming off a poor defensive performance last weekend, the Hornets' girls basketball team went to work sharpening their defense at practice. The extra attention propelled Hinsdale South to a 49-41 victory over Batavia in Darien, as the Hornets entered the game prepared to defend Batavia's size in the post.

"We played poor team defense over at Downers Grove North on Saturday, so we worked a lot on fronting the post and getting people help side," Hinsdale South coach Brenda Whitesell said. "Batavia takes you off the dribble so hard. We tried to switch to a couple zones but then they shoot the ball, so we knew we had to play them in man-to-man."

Trailing 19-18 at the half, Hinsdale South (15-6) switched its offensive style, opting more for a free-style attack based predominantly on spacing.

"We were getting so involved in running plays…that we weren't looking at who was really open," Whitesell said. "We were just trying to run plays so much that we weren't looking for shots, we weren't penetrating, so we went to what we call our free offense."

The Hornets' free offense swung the momentum in Hinsdale South's favor, fueling a 10-2 Hornets' run that gave the home team a 28-21 third-quarter lead.

For the Bulldogs (15-3), a lack of defensive aggression helped Hinsdale South build its lead.

"I just don't think we came out intense enough. We were sitting back in the zone a little bit too much and letting them dictate the pace," Batavia coach Tim DeBruycker said. "We wanted to take our zone and kind of take away their inside game, but we also want to extend our zone enough to try to get some steals and get the ball out, and I just think we were sitting back in the zone too much and they pounded the ball down (low)."

Batavia cut the Hornets' lead to 38-37 midway through the fourth quarter before Hinsdale South began pulling away. Three Sam Schimmel free throws gave the Hornets some separation to the tune of a 43-37 lead, all but clinching the win for Hinsdale South.

"When I go up (to the free-throw line) I just feel like 'OK, you've got to make it. Come on, you can do it,'" Schimmel said. "I just focused on the basket, and I love taking free throws."

Natalie Tarter scored 19 points to lead Batavia. Kara Lydon added 8 points and Melissa Norville 7.