Kokenis at her best against as Red Devils top Waubonsie
Hinsdale Central's Toni Kokenis has had a lot of good games against a lot of teams. Unfortunately for Waubonsie Valley, she seems to save her best for the Warriors.
The junior guard exploded for a career-high 30 points in Monday's sectional semifinal as the 31-2 Red Devils knocked off the host Warriors 55-41 to advance to Thursday's Class 4A sectional championship against top-seeded Bolingbrook, which ended Benet Academy's season in the other semifinal in Aurora.
The No. 3 Warriors, who close out the year 19-9, trailed just 22-20 at the half despite 16 points from Kokenis, a junior guard who helped knock off Waubonsie twice earlier this season with big scoring efforts. But Kokenis added 8 points in a third quarter in which the Red Devils started to pull away, taking a 38-26 lead into the final quarter on their way to extending the lead to as many as 19.
"She played a fantastic game tonight," Hinsdale Central coach Morgan Kasperek said of her 5-foot-10 guard. "I think she's had her three season highs all against Waubonsie. I don't know what it is - she's just played great against them."
Even so, the Warriors jumped out to an 8-3 lead thanks in large part to 6 quick points from freshman Tami Morice and led 14-13 after one quarter. With senior center Rachel Bostick tallying 8 points, the hosts trailed the No. 2 seed just 22-20 at the half.
But the Red Devils limited the Warriors to just 6 points while forcing 6 turnovers in the key third quarter. Waubonsie Valley never recovered, because if it wasn't Kokenis piling up the points, then it was Maggie Brennan knocking down one of her four 3s to keep the Red Devils in command.
"They're a great team to play against. They play really hard," Kokenis said of the Warriors. "(The scoring) just came. There were some openings in our offense and my teammates got me the ball."
"I think we played a great first half, but the third quarter obviously killed us," said Warriors coach Kris Kalivas, who will resume her coaching career next year at the district's new high school, Metea Valley. "I think we got away from our game plan and started turning the ball over and throwing up some bad shots. Once you give them any leeway it's tough to battle your way back."
For Warriors seniors like Bostick and Jessica Morice, battling back from injuries to help claim a third straight regional crown is nothing to hang their heads about. Bostick led the way with 16 points and 3 blocked shots, while Morice finished with 7 points and 4 assists.
"We just got a little nervous and started turning the ball over more than we should have," said Bostick, who was slowed at times this season by shoulder injuries. "But we played buzzer to buzzer and I'm proud of the girls. After everything we went through this season we still did whatever we had to do."