Tigers' season ended by Plainfield Central

After a dissapointing end to a subpar season, Wheaton Warrenville South can look to a future which includes a slew a returning players

But the biggest culprit on Monday night also happended to be a youngster as Plainfield Central freshman Brigid Hanley did not play like someone making her first postseason appearance. Hanley, a 5-foot -7 guard, scored a game high 28 points and added 11 rebounds as the No. 18-seeded Wildcats ended the Tigers' season with a 42-35 regional-opening triumph in the Neuqua Valley Class 4A regional.

At one point in the third quarter Hanley had 22 points by herself while Wheaton Warrenville South (6-22) had combined to total 20 points.

"She has an innate ability to get to the basket," Plainfield Central coach Mark Krusz said. "She has so much instinct."

In addition to the huge scoring and rebound totals, the Wildcats' coaches also credited Hanley with 8 deflections on defense. "Our defense was real solid and they didn't have many open shots," Hanley said. "They were mostlly shooting 3's and they weren't much."

Despite hanley's heroics , the Tigers kept the game tight, and if a few more shots had fallen they might have been the team advancing to Tuesday's contect against top-seeded Hinsdale Central. The 15th-seeded Tigers trailed 14-7 after one quarter but scored the first 6 points in the second quarter as center Katie Ottolin scored inside, Heidi Anciel had a putback and Annie Shain dropped in a short jumper.

"Our shots just weren't dropping," said Ottolin. "We've faced tougher defenses but tonight the shots just going in."

Shain connected on a pair of 3-pointers to keep the Tigers alive in the fourth quarter and shared team scoring honors with Hannah Credile, who tallied all 9 of her points in the first half. Ottolin had 7 points and 11 rebounds, but WW South could not overcome its poor shooting effort (13-for-59) coupled with Hanley's big night.

The wildcats led 31-22 after three quarters before Caitlin Schwark opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer that gave the Tigers some hope vefore Hanley finished them off by sinking 6 of 9 free throws down the stretch.

"They outplayed and they outworked us" Tigers coach Rob Kroehnke said. "It was dissapointing. The hope is there, but we've got a lot of work to do."

Nine of the 10 tigers who played Monday are underclassmen, with Liz Henderlite the lone senior to see action against Plainfield Central.