Hoffman Estates wins Bradley-Bourbonnais title
Hoffman Estates became the only Mid-Suburban League girls basketball team to win a holiday tournament over the past two weekends Friday.
Not only did they win their sixth straight game, the Hawks also won the championship of the first Boilermaker Tournament at Bradley-Bourbonnais High School.
After more than fours hours worth of driving back and forth to Kankakee County the last three days for the eight-team tournament, Hoffman Estates’ engine was running smoothly from start to finish in the title game.
The Hawks never trailed in a 62-40 triumph over Bloom.
It was Hoffman Estates’ second tourney in as many weeks as the Hawks won another championship — the consolation championship, that is — of the Lady Mustangs Holiday Classic at Mundelein High School a week earlier.
Because both tourneys will be held during the same week after Christmas next year, Hoffman Estates coach Mike Nocella informed officials at Bourbonnais that the Hawks will not be returning.
That could be a sigh of relief for the other teams as the Hawks rolled though their competition the last three days, winning 51-35 in the quarterfinalsand 72-47 in the semis.
“It was a nice tournament,” Nocella said. “It was fun to see different teams. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to go back.”
The Hawks never looked back against a Bloom team which Nocella said featured some “nice” players.
Hoffman led 15-13 after one quarter and 36-14 at the break.
All-tourney selections Destinee Young (24 points) and Becca Stoczynski (18), both junior forwards, led the Hawks, who are now 7-8 heading into 2012.
“The kids are playing real good basketball,” Nocella said. “And hopefully this will lead to us to playing competitive basketball in the second half of the season.”
Young (3 blocked shots, 3 assists) and Stoczynski (4 steals) also dominated on the boards, grabbing 13 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
Senior guard Sara Burns added 13 points for Hoffman with 6 rebounds and 4 assists while classmate Mary Pettit handed out 10 assists with her 5 points and 2 steals.
Junior Selena Martinez chipped in 4 points and 2 rebounds.
“We were really clicking,” Nocella added. “It was a beautiful game to watch.
“It was a nice way to finish the year and get ready for the rest of our conference schedule.”