Neuqua Valley 48, Lockport 44

Beth Goldberg played Wednesday's semifinal game of the Class 4A Hinsdale Central regional as if it were her last, and because she did, it wasn't.

Goldberg, a Neuqua Valley senior, took control of the offense, stepped up on defense and scored 5 of her team-high 15 points in the final period as ninth-seeded Neuqua Valley fought off a late charge by eighth-seeded Lockport to win 48-44 and live to play top-seeded Hinsdale Central on Friday.

The win was also a bit of redemption for Neuqua against Lockport, which knocked the Wildcats out of last year's girls basketball tournament when the seedings were reversed.

The victory brings Neuqua's record to the .500 mark at 14-14.

"Beth played hard," said Neuqua Valley coach Mike Williams. "She got rebounds, she was on the floor. Her contact lens was knocked out, she came right back in the game. She really played as if it was her last game."

"The difference between this game and other games was that we kept our heads when there was pressure at the end," Goldberg said. "We had a lot of enthusiasm and we were less panicky. I felt calm at the free-throw line."

In the first half nobody led by more than 6 points, but the Wildcats moved ahead 37-27 on a Goldberg 3-pointer with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter. Then the Porters (15-12) hit 7 points in a row, 5 from the foul line, to pull within 3 at the end of the period.

The fourth period started with Neuqua baskets by Katie Medvec and McKenzie Hughes, but again the Porters would not go away.

They cut the lead to 45-42 with 1:05 to go. But a basket by Goldberg, a layup by teammate Viv Kindt on a Goldberg pass, and a foul shot by Goldberg at the end sealed the victory.

"This whole season has been a roller coaster," said senior Kindt, who finished with 13 points. "We didn't want it to end tonight and we had a lot of fight in the game. A lot of girls contributed. On defense we wanted the game."

Williams praised the Wildcats' defensive effort.

"We moved our feet on defense," Williams said. "We played with intensity, got some blocked shots, some tipped passes, some steals. They ran at us, but we were resilient and stayed in there."

The 6-foot-3 Medvec was the intimidator for the Wildcats' defense all night. She blocked 5 Lockport shots and pretty much disrupted the Porters' offense every time they tried to go inside.

"Katie is a workhorse, she's consistent," Williams said. "Hughes and Raquel Davis were strong on the boards, and Danielle Davis handled point guard duties with poise," Williams said.

Katie Novak had a game- high 22 points for Lockport.

"It was Neuqua's full-court defense that bothered us the most," said Lockport coach Krista Peterson. "That run-and-jump press. You never knew where that trap was coming from. But the girls showed a lot of heart in coming back from 10 down. They could have easily folded, but our defensive intensity picked up. But it was a little too late."

-- Neil Shalin

St. Joseph 50, St. Francis 32:ŒWith senior guard Catherine Culligan recently back from an extended absence and a zone defense that slowed St. Joseph for three quarters, things were looking up for St. Francis on Wednesday night.

But St. Joseph guard Karina Robinson put a quick end to the Spartans' hopes of advancing past the Chargers (15-13) in Class 3A girls basketball regional semifinal play in Wheaton. Robinson scored 7 straight points to open the fourth quarter and helped power St. Joseph to a 50-32 victory and a berth in the regional final against Montini.

The 12-15 Spartans actually led 20-16 late in the third quarter before St. Joseph scored the final 6 points for a 22-20. Robinson then opened the final quarter with a layup off a turnover, two free throws off a turnover and a 3-pointer. In all she tallied 13 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter.

"We had a few turnovers and we missed a lot of free throws," said Spartans coach Leslie Fay-Dehn, whose team was 7 of 17 from the line. "Things weren't going our way, I guess, but our kids played hard."

Culligan had missed more than a month with mononucleosis before returning for limited minutes against Trinity Saturday. On Wednesday she entered the game with 5:31 left in the first quarter and St. Francis on top 3-2 following a three-point play from Shannon Phillips.

But on a night when points were hard to come by, Culligan finished with 2 points on 2-of-6 foul shooting. Junior Jamie Stefely paced the Spartans with 8 points and 9 rebounds, while Chrissy Belniak, Kelly Reinke and Phillips each added 5 points.

"We had a great group of seniors and it's going to be tough not having them, but we do have some strong players coming back," Fay-Dehn said.

-- Stan Goff

Hinsdale Central 47, Lyons Twp. 19:ŒAt the Class 4A Hinsdale Central regional semifinals, the host Red Devils cruised to the victory behind Molly Kinsella's game-high 14 points. The top-seeded Red Devils meet Neuqua Valley at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Montini 72, Phillips 21:ŒAt the Class 3A St. Francis regional, the second-seeded Broncos got 18 points from Michala Johnson, 14 from Jill Sullivan and 10 from Chrissy Fletcher. Johnson added 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks, and Alison Seberger had 10 rebounds. The Broncos meet St. Joseph at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Glenbard South 59, Lindblom 28:ŒThe Raiders earned their 20th victory of the season at the Class 3A University High regional. Niah Jessie scored 10 points to top 12 Raiders who scored. The Raiders play U-High at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Boys basketball

Timothy Christian 64, Aurora Christian 49:ŒThe Trojans (15-12) advanced to Friday's Private School League Tournament title game at Aurora Christian with their win in Elmhurst. Andrew Logan had 13 points, 6 steals and 6 assists, Vince Williams added 12 points and 7 rebounds, and Joel Sytsma pitched in with 11 points and 8 rebounds.

Wheaton Academy 75, Illiana Christian 65:ŒBen Euler eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in his varsity career by knocking down five 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 29 points. The victory advances the Warriors (15-8) in the consolation bracket of the Private School League Tournament. Timothy Rusthoven added 18 points and 8 blocked shots for Wheaton Academy, which will play for fifth place on Friday at Aurora Christian.