Okoro, young Hinsdale South stop York

Unbeaten York ran into a Hornets' nest Monday night in Darien.

And a 6-foot brick wall named Uzo Okoro.

Hinsdale South's sophomore center scored 15 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in a 48-47 win over York at the Hinsdale South Tip-Off Tournament.

"It's one more step that we're taking," said Okoro, one of two Hornets sophomore starters. "I know we said that we're young and we might have to take our lumps early. But I think we showed tonight how good we can be. On a personal note, it's nice to beat a team that just beat Hinsdale Central."

Freshman guard Toni Romiti added 9 points for the Hornets (2-2), knocking down a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter as Hinsdale South raced out to a 29-18 halftime lead. A Hornets defensive wrinkle harassed York into 11 first-half turnovers.

"The key for us is when we switched over to our 1-3-1," first-year Hornets coach John Constable said, "and we just kind of set the dogs loose. They trapped everywhere. That's a look we hadn't shown before in our previous three games. I think that definitely caught them off-guard. And we're lucky that their shooters were off."

York (3-1) pulled within a point three times in the second half, and trailed 48-46 with 13 seconds left after Romiti split two free throws. The teams traded turnovers, and York's Mary Colon was fouled with a second left. She made the first free throw but front-rimmed the second.

Colon had 19 points and 6 rebounds and Angela Bianchi 10 points for the Dukes, who shot a frigid 1 for 29 from 3-point range. York was coming off wins over Bartlett, Wheaton North and Hinsdale Central.

"We made a nice run there in the second half," York coach Jason Reinecke said, "but we just couldn't get enough shots to fall tonight. We're going to definitely use this as a learning experience."

In Monday's first game, Toni Kokenis scored 25 points as Hinsdale Central beat Neuqua Valley 47-28. The Red Devils, who dropped their opener on Saturday to York, used a 13-0 run at the end of the second quarter and into the third to blow open what was a close game. Cody Steinborn added 8 points.

"It felt good to play another game right away," Kokenis said. "We were moving the ball a lot better tonight, hitting the open person and we rebounded a lot better. Our defense was a little better. There's a lot of room for improvement."

Taylor Francesconi had 9 points and Bria Williams and Jackie Geffinger 6 each for Neuqua (0-3), shorthanded with starting point guard Megan Doody sick with the flu.

"That first half down two at one point is about as good as we could have asked for," Neuqua coach Mike Williams said. "Our kids understand that we're going to have to start putting down shots when we need to and we're going to have to start taking care of the ball better. But this team has good chemistry. We're going to be OK."

Trinity 47, Benet 29: The visiting Blazers outscored Benet 13-5 in the third quarter to blow open a 3-point halftime lead at the Benet/Naperville Central Tip-Off Tournament in Lisle. Nikki Bell scored 11 points for Benet (2-1). Megan Podkowa had a game-high 20 for Trinity.

Immaculate Conception 61, Luther North 29: Taylor Reaber poured in 20 points as the Knights (5-0) remained unbeaten with a win at the Immaculate Conception Invite. Kasey Reaber and Allie DiVito added 10 points apiece.