Not missing a beat

Plano's Amanda Corral (12) prepares to pass the ball during Plano's loss to Hinckley-Big Rock.
(Heather Eidson/Beacon News)

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

SOMONAUK -- Hinckley-Big Rock's girls basketball team returns everybody from a team that lost a heartbreaker to Newark in the sectional finals a year ago.

Through two games of this young season, it seems the Royals have not missed a beat.

They held their opponent to a mere 15 points for the second straight day at the Lady Bobcat Varsity Basketball Breakout Tournament, beating Plano 63-15 Tuesday. That followed a 46-15 win over Sandwich in the season opener Monday.

"You hope to start like this," Hinckley-Big Rock coach Greg Burks said. "A lot of people expect you to come out in midseason form and pick up right where you left off, and that's just unrealistic. We still have plenty to work on."

Aside from shooting 13-for-24 from the free-throw line, Burks could find little to complain about Tuesday. The Royals started fairly slow, getting out to an 11-6 lead in the first quarter. But they followed that with an 8-0 run that stretched into the second quarter to make it 19-6.

Plano (1-1) kept itself in the game with 3-pointers from Katie Stickney and Lauren Konop, but after Konop's 3, the Royals ended the half on a 12-0 run and proceeded to score the first six points of the third to open a 41-12 gap.

"We were there for a while in the beginning," Plano coach Mario Serra said. "But, that's what good teams do. Right now, we weren't able to stay with them. I mean, we were hustling as hard as we could. We just have to be able to play consistently the entire game. We're on for a while, off for a while."

It was H-BR's defense that forced the issue Tuesday. The Royals forced eight Plano turnovers in the first quarter and 10 more in the second. For the game, Hinckley accounted for 13 steals and forced 26 turnovers.

"We're pretty happy," said Hinckley-Big Rock junior guard Jenna Thorp, who scored 17 points and collected three steals in the game. "We're extremely happy with our defense, how we seem to be all over the floor and anticipating well. Our defense is No. 1 We know that if we have a strong defense, the offense will come."

A key to that defense is star senior center Melissa Herrmann, who led the way for the Royals with 18 points and six rebounds. She shot 7-for-11 from the field and 4-for-5 from the line and disrupted the Reapers' offense all night long. She also contributed to a solid rebounding effort. The Royals out rebounded the Reapers, 39-26.

"The defense is always going to be ahead of the offense this time of the year, and it has to be," Burks said. "Defense has to be there for us every night. Tonight, we rebounded better and that helped us get out on the break and get into our offense a little bit quicker."