Whips hit the boards in win

Hampshire girls basketball coach Sue Ellett's No. 1 key to Thursday night's game against Genoa-Kingston was rebounding.

The Whip-Purs certainly hit the boards.

They out-rebounded the Cogs by 13, grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in the first half to open a big lead and cruised to a 54-30 Big Northern Conference crossover game in Hampshire's home opener in the final season at the Purple Palace.

"We are bigger than Genoa inside and we needed to take advantage of that," Ellett said. "When you can miss a couple shots and then get some easy putbacks that gets you feeling good."

Chrissy Heine, a 6-foot sophomore, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, 8 on the offensive end. Kelsey Watson finished with 10 rebounds off the bench. Even 5-1 Gianina Estocado added 7 boards.

"We can always get more," joked Hampshire senior Mallory Koster, who grabbed 6 rebounds.

Hampshire (4-2) broke open what was a close game in the second quarter. The Whip-Purs took a 14-10 lead in the second, thanks to a last-second 3-pointer from Koster to end the first, and outscored the Cogs (3-5) by 12 in the second quarter.

With a 16-12 lead, Hampshire went on a 10-0 run to take a 26-12 advantage with 2:25 remaining in the half. Koster, who scored a game-high 13 points, scored the final 8 points of the run.

The Whip-Purs led 31-15 at halftime.

"We started rebounding the basketball and kind of getting out and getting some easy looks," Ellett said about the second-quarter burst. "We used our quickness."

The lead was 40-21 heading into the fourth quarter and the Whip-Purs led by as many as 25 in the final quarter. Hampshire finished with 49 rebounds, while Genoa-Kingston grabbed 36.

"They were a lot more physical than we were," Cogs coach Todd McDillion said. "They just got after it. They got all the loose balls."

Molly Meier led the Cogs with 9 points. Lauren Strohmaier added 8 points and a team-high 8 rebounds.

Heine joined Koster in double figures for the Whip-Purs with 11 points. Estocado added 7 points.