It’s time for some girls’ basketball tournament hoops! The Hinsdale South Hornets host the traveling Metea Valley Mustangs for this evening’s contest. South looks to remain strong and their undefeated record of 3-0 intact with a win. Meanwhile, the Mustangs come off a tournament loss to Plainfield South and look to turn things around and pick up their second win of the young season. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The defenses set the tone in the early going
Both teams fail to score a point in the opening possessions of tonight’s game due to intense defense. That’s until the Hornets force a Mustang turnover and Hailey Goins locates her teammate Maeve Savage for the opening points of the game, Hinsdale South leads 2-0.
The Mustangs respond with a three-pointer from Breanna Seely, and look to keep the scoring option open as Payton Giannone attacks the paint with authority and gets the tough basket to go through the net.
The Hornets look to respond quickly as they force a turnover with the first quarter winding down. The first shot attempt is no good; the second shot attempt is met by Jailyn Cutts, who denies it with a block. However, Metea trails 9-5 at the end of the first.
Hinsdale South looks to keep the offense flowing, displaying good ball movement before Brynn Diedrich connects with Savage for a three-pointer to start the second quarter.
Metea looks to keep the offense in flow on the shot attempt, but it’s off the mark, and the Hornets quickly work the fast break and look for the easy two points, but are met at the net again by Cutts for another block, setting the tone on the defensive end for the Mustangs. But Metea trails 20-17 at the half.
Cutts and Giannone keep the Mustang offense clicking
The Mustangs look to be aggressive to start the second half as Giannone scores a quick 5 points for Metea, looking to spark some momentum for the offense. Giannone’s three-pointer is what the Mustangs needed, but they still trail 25-29 to end the third.
To start the fourth, Cutts looks to respond with Giannone’s offensive energy in the third as she knocks down a three-pointer to keep the Mustangs within a score.
However, the Hornets are quick to respond as Diedrich attacks the basket and scores as Hinsdale holds a 34-28 lead.
Hinsdale South pulls away from Metea to remain undefeated
Metea still has some fight in them as Cutts hands it off to Giannone as she attacks the basket for the score.
But it wouldn’t be enough for the Mustangs as they fall to the Hornets, 39-33. Diedrich drops a pass to Sloane Kiefer to help put the game away. The final games of the Brenda Whitesell tournament will be held on Saturday, with Hinsdale South taking on Naperville North in the championship game.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
