Driscoll 54, Lisle 39

Driscoll went back to the drawing board late in the first quarter Thursday night in Plano.

In the first of two semifinals of the Class 2A girls basketball regional, the Highlanders switched strategies seamlessly.

"We were trying to use our inside game to open up the outside game," Driscoll guard Gigi DiGrazia said. "If (the Lions) were going to give us the outside shot, we were confident to shoot."

DiGrazia, one of two Driscoll players to hit three 3-pointers, broke the last of 4 first-quarter ties with her initial jum54per from beyond the arc.

The junior added another early in the second quarter, and sixth-man Allie Divito added back-to-back 3-pointers moments later.

Lisle never recovered from the Highlanders' perimeter assault, and top-seeded Driscoll (22-5) advanced to the championship game at 8 p.m. Saturday with a 54-39 victory.

Sixth-seeded Lisle ended its campaign at 10-19. DiGrazia, the runner-up in the Class A 3-point contest in Normal last year, launched an 18-7 Highlanders' run that turned a 9-9 game late in the first quarter into a 27-16 Driscoll cushion at the intermission.

Lisle double-teamed the Highlanders' talented post, 6-foot-4 sophomore Courtney Lindfors, but the Lions' defensive scheme unraveled on both fronts.

Lindfors not only managed to post team highs of 17 points and 8 rebounds, but the Highlanders' three-guard attack operated with impunity.

"Obviously, we have a post player (Lindfors) in the middle that makes a lot of difference," Driscoll coach Steve McCuiston said. "We got on a little bit of a roll with the 3s (in the second quarter)."

"Last year we didn't win (in the playoffs)," Lindfors said of the Highlanders' primary motivation. "We lost the first game (in the regional). We were ready for (the game to be played Wednesday), but we pulled it out and won."

"We put two (players) on (Lindfors) and left the three open," Lisle coach Jeff Javior said.

Lindfors tallied 16 of her points in the opening three quarters, and the Highlanders doubled up Lisle 36-18 when Taylor Reaber drained another perimeter jumper midway through the third.

But Lisle did not go meekly.

Playing in her final high school game, Lisle forward Sara Urban, with help from classmate Megan Hannan, made a final surge.

Urban led all players with a season-high 20 points, and Hannan followed an Urban bucket with a 4-point play two minutes into the fourth to bring Lisle within 41-31.

But DiGrazia and Divito added the last of their combined six 3-pointers to halt the Lions' uprising.

"(Urban) had a huge night," Javior said. "I thought the kids played about as well as they possibly could."

DiGrazia and Hannan both finished with 11 points for their respective teams.