Hinsdale C's Kokenis gets help to defeat Waubonsie

Hinsdale Central coach Morgan Kasperek admits even she gets caught marveling at Toni Kokenis from the bench.

But No. 11 couldn't do it by herself Saturday night.

"I challenged everybody besides Toni to look at the hoop and be aggressive," Kasperek said. "Toni is amazing and can carry the load. But she can't carry everyone."

Hinsdale Central answered its coach's call in the second half, rallying from 7 down to beat Waubonsie Valley 40-35 for its third straight championship at Wheaton North's Bill Neibch Falcon Classic.

The Red Devils (15-0) won for the second straight night without senior Madison Whitley, out with a fever. But Kokenis once again had a fine all-around game with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists and Katie Delaney scored 13 points, all in the second half. Hinsdale Central played the second half without a substition, two of those starters sophomores.

"It's a good experience for some of our younger players," Kokenis said. "They get that game experience in two games that came down to the very end."

Waubonsie Valley (12-2) out-Deviled Hinsdale Central in the first half, scoring the half's last 4 points to take a 17-10 lead into the break of a methodical contest.

The Warriors still led 21-13 with 6:10 left in the third quarter, but Hinsdale Central went on a game-changing 15-2 run from there. Delaney and Kokenis scores made it a four-point game. After a Rachel Bostick score for Waubonsie Valley, Kokenis hit 2 free throws, Delaney knocked down a 3-pointer off a Kokenis kick-out and Adabelle Ekechukwu muscled in a follow shot to make it 24-23, Hinsdale Central's first lead since 2-0.

Kokenis hit a jumper, then split a double-team and rolled in a runner to make it 28-23.

"We started moving the ball more in the second half," Kokenis said, "and we hit some shots."

Three ties ensued in the fourth quarter, the last at 34-34 with 2:34 left on Kiki McClellan's backdoor layup for Waubonsie Valley. At the other end Delaney scored underneath off a pretty post feed from Ekechukwu and Kokenis made it 38-34 with a steal and score.

"Everything we did correctly in the first half we did not come out and do after halftime," Waubonsie Valley coach Kris Kalivas said, "and some of that was caused by our turnovers."

Kokenis scored 90 points over four games in Wheaton.

"She's almost unguardable," Kasperek said. "She has every aspect of the game - she can take it to the hole, she can hit the pullup, make 3s. I'm so glad she's on my team. I feel bad for opposing coaches."

Tami Morice scored 12 points and Keiera Ray 8 for Waubonsie Valley, which hosts Hinsdale Central on Jan. 6.