Proviso East 72, Willowbrook 55

Willowbrook guard Collette Williams was a senior on a mission for Tuesday's Class 4A Willowbrook regional girls basketball game against No. 3 seed Proviso East.

Williams didn't want her high school career come to an end. That determination showed by the way she played -- getting steals, driving strong to the hoop for layups, feeding her teammates and hitting clutch jump shots under pressure.

Williams' inspired play rubbed off as the host Warriors put up a valiant fight against the Pirates. But they were not able to match Proviso East's prowess in the paint as the Pirates captured a 72-55 victory in Villa Park to advance to the regional championship game Friday.

"I figured that it would probably be my last game so there wasn't any reason to not go all out," said Williams, who poured in 13 of her team-high 19 points in the first quarter. "I didn't want to end the season with any regrets. We wanted to keep playing and didn't want to lose."

On a number of occasions, Proviso East (23-5) appeared to be ready to pull away, but Willowbrook (13-18) rallied to stay within striking distance. A 3-pointer from Warriors senior guard Ashley Kanelos from the left wing cut what was a 13-point deficit to 4 points with 5:21 to play in the third quarter.

Kanelos finished with 9 points and sophomore guard Taylor Nelson, who scored 11 points, also hit a couple of clutch shots during that run. Willowbrook trailed 51-45 heading into the final quarter.

Unfortunately the Warriors did not have anyone who could match up with standout Proviso East post players and sisters Miame and Robin Giden, who stand 5-foot-11 and 6-foot, respectively.

The seniors combined for 51 points with Miame Giden leading the way with 31 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, and 16 rebounds. Robin Giden also pulled down 11 rebounds as the Pirates outrebounded the Warriors 43-24 for the game, many off the offensive glass.

"They are a great combination," Proviso East coach Robert Thomas said.

"I thought our kids played as well as they could," said Willowbrook coach Troy Nelson. "Their size took over and (we gave up) too many offensive rebounds. It wears you down. They made more plays then we did."

-- Brian Pitts

Rosary 68, Yorkville 34:ŒRosary is capable of playing with finesse to beat an opponent whenever necessary.

In Tuesday's opening round of the Class 3A Yorkville regional, finesse was nowhere to be found and wholly unnecessary.

The Royals (22-5) were bigger, quicker and deeper than Yorkville, which they topped 68-34 and used their superior athleticism to beat their opponents into submission as well as on the scoreboard and advance to Thursday's regional final at 7:30 p.m.

Jordan Rettig maneuvered at will in the low post like someone who's shooting hoops by themselves in their own driveway, scoring a game-high 28 points.

"There was an obvious height advantage down low, and we kept working it inside," Rettig said. "My teammates did a great job of getting the assists, and it felt great to help my team out in that way."

Rettig was so dominant that at the end of the third quarter she had outscored the Foxes 28-24. After that Rosary coach Dave Beebe had the luxury of resting his five starters for the rest of the game.

"We scouted them a bunch of times and saw that they really didn't have a lot of size, and so we had to use our strength to our advantage," Beebe said.

The Royals took the floor with that simple plan in mind, jumped to a fast lead and were up 18-7 after one quarter.

But Yorkville (8-19), wearing its red road uniforms as the lower seed despite being on its home floor, made some adjustments, and Sara O'Leary racked up 10 points in the second quarter.

"We got off to a great start but had a bad three- or four- minute stretch in the second quarter," Beebe said. "We got on them a little bit in the locker room and wanted to put Yorkville away in the third quarter."

-- Henry Perez

Hinsdale South 56, Plainfield Central 53: In a Class 4A Romeoville regional semifinal, Joanna Giampoli scored the go-ahead basket with 30 seconds remaining, and Jessica Carlson hit 2 free throws with 20 seconds left for No. 7 seed Hinsdale South (22-9). Jazmine Harris didn't allow No. 10 seed Plainfield Central's (18-10) Meghan Merklein, who led all scorers with 22 points, a good look at a 3-point shot as time expired. Carlson and Sam Schimmel led the Hornets with 14 points apiece. Giampoli had 10 points and 12 rebounds for Hinsdale South, which advances to Thursday's 7:30 p.m. regional final against No. 2 seed Bolingbrook, a winner over No. 15 seed Plainfield North.

Conant 46, Glenbard East 27:ŒKelsey Taylor led the Rams (10-18) with 8 points in a losing effort at the Class 4A Conant regional.

"We got it within 6 (in the third quarter) and we were starting to feel the energy in the gym, but a couple things happened here and there and (Conant) started to pull away," said Glenbard East coach Nicole Miller. "I was really pleased we were able to hang with them and make it a game."

Boys basketball

Addison Trail 82, Fenton 56: Matt Davies made 10 3-point baskets and scored a career-high 35 points as the host Blazers exceeded their prior season high by 16 points in the nonconference game. Ian Horvath added 21 points for Addison Trail (4-19). Fenton (10-13) was led by Damian Sieradzki with 18 points, Billy Gratzl with 13 and Gozie Umeadi with 11.

Glenbard South 77, Sycamore 57: At Sycamore (11-9, 3-7), Glenbard South (13-9, 7-5) took an 18-6 first-quarter lead and won the Western Sun Conference contest behind 21 points from Andy Manson and 18 from Will Hill.

Montini 90, Marian Central 50: The host Broncos cruised to a season scoring high in the Suburban Catholic Conference game in Lombard. Montini (10-15, 5-8) was led by Dex Jones' 18 points. Alex Blashewski scored 17, Anthony Blashewski 16, Jason Viane had 12 points and Kevin Pope added 11.

Sandwich 47, Lisle 39: Matt Bryjak's 10 points and 9 from Mike Gortowski led host Lisle (9-19, 6-4) in its Interstate Eight Conference loss. Sandwich improved to 13-13, 6-4.

Lyons Twp. 60, Hinsdale South 51: In the West Suburban Conference crossover in Darien, Hinsdale South dropped to 12-10 despite Carl Fiebig's 17 points and 14 from Eric Travis. Lyons moved to 19-3.