WW South nearly bumps Hinsdale Central
Toni Kokenis' first point Thursday night was her 2,000th at Hinsdale Central.
Knowing Kokenis, she'll savor the last one more.
A Kokenis free throw with one second left lifted the No. 6 seed Red Devils to a 30-29 win over No. 4 Wheaton Warrenville South in the Class 4A Hinsdale Central regional final.
"We've been shooting a lot of free throws in practice," said Kokenis, who had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals, making 7 of 10 free throws. "I felt a little off earlier in the game, but that one felt good at the end."
Tied with 35.8 seconds left, Hinsdale Central (22-9) got the last shot. After dribbling the clock down, Kokenis missed a tough scoop shot in the lane, and Adabelle Ekechukwu's follow rimmed out. Kokenis grabbed a second rebound in traffic and was fouled on the way up.
She swished the first free throw, then intentionally missed the second as time expired.
WW South coach Rob Kroehnke didn't like the foul call but could appreciate the events leading up to it. Hinsdale Central pulled down 11 offensive rebounds for the game. Ekechukwu had 6 of them, 14 rebounds total.
"You gotta rebound with this team," Kroehnke said. "I thought we did a decent job (28-26 Hinsdale Central) but we did give them some opportunities at bad times."
Hinsdale Central's fourth straight regional title - and Stanford recruit Kokenis' - was clearly their most difficult.
The Red Devils won their last three regional finals by double figures but didn't even get their first lead Thursday until Maggie Brennan's 3-pointer seconds into the fourth quarter made it 25-23.
WW South came right back with a quick 6-0 run, taking a 29-25 lead with 5:24 left on Kasey Gassensmith's driving layup. Ekechukwu answered with a score inside, then Kokenis stripped a WW South player and fed Ekechukwu ahead for the tying basket in transition with 1:30 left.
Matched against WW South's tough 1-3-1 zone, Hinsdale Central made just 8 of 38 field goals - 2 of 21 from 3-point range.
"Wheaton is an unbelievable team," first-year Red Devils coach Lindsey Montgomery said. "They run their stuff really, really well and are very aggressive and well-coached. We had a hard time with that."
"I can't ask for more of my kids," Kroehnke said. "They laid it on the line. I think we made (Hinsdale Central) think a little bit."
Almost certainly next for Hinsdale Central is defending Class 4A champion Bolingbrook in Monday's Oswego East sectional semifinal. The Red Devils have lost to the Raiders the last three years.
"I'm excited to play them one more time - we have nothing to lose," Kokenis said. "Nobody expects us to win. We just have to give it all we have. We know it's all or nothing."
Annie Shain scored 7 points and Heidi Ansiel had 6 points and 7 rebounds for WW South (20-10), which completed a remarkable turnaround from a six-win 2008-09 season.
"Never once have I had to question their effort or ask them for effort. Not once," Kroehnke said. "It's been a long season, and they gave me everything they got."