Hinsdale Central 47, Buffalo Grove 43

Ever since the Hinsdale Central girls basketball team defeated Schaumburg in the championship game of the Wheaton North Christmas tourney, coach Steve Gross said his Red Devils have been a different team.

"Since then, they realized if we play together and work hard together, we can play with the good teams," he said.

The Red Devils (24-1) showed Saturday night they could play with the one of the best in the state.

Buffalo Grove (24-3), ranked No. 1 in Class 4A to start the week, came into its game with the Red Devils (24-1) undefeated in the Sweet 16 tourney at 4-0.

Hinsdale Central was 3-1.

But the DuPage Valley power was up to the challenge with a 47-43 front-running victory, meaning that Hinsdale Central, Maine West, Fenwick, Lake Zurich, Buffalo Grove and Schaumburg all finished with 4-1 records in the tourney.

Fenwick was awarded the title based on point differential among the tied teams.

Sophomore point guard Toni Kokenis led the Red Devils with 13 points, while junior Katie Delaney added 10 and senior Molly Kinsella 8.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Kokenis gave Hinsdale a 21-12 lead with 2:29 left in second quarter and BG never got closer than the final score.

"We knew they had great 3-point shooters," Kinsella said. "We couldn't give them any easy layups or 3-pointers. We didn't feel they could match up with us down low. So we were trying to get it inside."

BG was led by Maggie Mocchi's 16 points and 10 from Ellen Ayoub, who hit two 3-pointers in the final 29 seconds to help get the Bison close the gap at the end.

"You've got to give them (Hinsdale Central) credit," Ayoub said. "They played great defense and we didn't execute.

"Obviously we've got to put this behind us and learn from it. Playing the good teams will only help us.

"Better to lose now than the regional or sectionals," added Maggie Mocchi. "Our last three games have been poor. We've got to recover. It's like we're a totally different team right now but I'm pretty confident we'll snap out of this funk."

Bison coach Tom Dineen said that junior guard Kaitlin Hillner was take to the hospital emergency room after suffering asthma problems in the first half.

"Hinsdale Central is good," Dineen said. "I knew coming here they were one of the best teams and they proved me right. They have a lot of weapons inside and out and are well-coached.

"This was not a good week for us. Yeah, we're a good team. But we have some weaknesses and they were exposed this week."