Hampshire's Van Dorin makes Class 3A finals
NORMAL - Jessie Van Dorin might not be Queen of the Hill just yet, but she's getting closer.
Van Dorin, the Hampshire junior who made 83 3-pointers this season, made 9 of 15 in the regular round and then 4 of 10 in a shootout Thursday night to advance to the Final Four of the IHSA's 3-Point Showdown at Redbird Arena.
Van Dorin will shoot in the final round Friday at 1:30 p.m. and if she wins the Class 3A title, she'll come back Saturday and shoot against the champions of the other three classes for the Queen of the Hill title.
Van Dorin had the experience of shooting at Redbird before behind her. She advanced to the Class 2A preliminary round as a freshman and made 6 of 15.
"(The experience) made me a lot more confident," said Van Dorin, who made 83 of 195 (42.6 percent) from 3-point range this season for the 29-2 Whip-Purs. "Having made 83 3s in the season I knew I could beat a lot of these girls."
Van Dorin shot in the second of the four groups and then had to wait it out as no other player made more than 9 shots. Nora Masterson of Nazareth had made 9 just before Van Dorin, and then four other players after Van Dorin made 9.
In the shootout, in which each player takes 5 shots from each corner, Van Dorin's four good shots were second best. Senior Whitney Rohrback of Metamora made 6 of 10 and then junior Katie Hempen of Highland and Masterson each advanced through a second shootout.
Hampshire coach Sue Ellett said she was never worried when Van Dorin had to go to the corner shootout.
"I wasn't even nervous," Ellett said. "No one shoots better from the corner than Jessie. It's pretty exciting. You could tell she had been here before. She went on the floor confident and had a serious look on her face.
"Jessie's put a lot of hard work into her shooting. She's spent a lot of time in the gym with her dad (Rick) and her brother (Josh). We're real proud of her."
Van Dorin says she's ready for the next battle, which will come before a live television audience Friday afternoon.
"We were all pretty much even so anybody can win it," she said. "Hopefully I'll have one of my better rounds."
In the Class 4A competition, Naperville Central's Emma Ondik, Marist's Haley Stercic, Fenwick's Kathleen Roche and Hersey's Megan Rogowski advanced to Friday's Final Four and will shoot at 8 p.m.
Kelsey Herridge of Brimfield and Allie Norton of Bloomington Central Catholic were the Class 1A and 2A winners last week, respectively, and will shoot Saturday night against the Class 3A and 4A champions for the Queen of the Hill crown.