HC Girls Hoops Looks to Overcome Slow Start in 2011-12

Though the girls basketball team got off to a rough 1-5 start this season, a win at Proviso West Tuesday night might have gotten the Red Devils rolling.

Senior captain Madison Grace called it “a breakthrough” win.

“We all realized we need to work together,” Grace said of the 58-52 win against the Panthers, who were coming off a 48-29 win over Glenbard West Dec. 1, according to the Daily Herald.

Grace, a center, said that when the Red Devils (2-5) play well like they did Tuesday, they’re—perhaps not surprisingly—playing as a team and making shots.

“We had a lot of threes and we were working on defense,” she said.

Head coach Tom McKenna, who is in the midst of his second season at Hinsdale Central after 23 years as head coach at St. Ignatius in Chicago, said that the team’s work over the summer to get his system down has helped after a 3-26 season in 2010-11.

McKenna’s system is rooted in man-to-man defense, pushing the ball on offense, and employing an eight- or nine-player rotation.

“It keeps people fresh,” McKenna said of the rotation. “It keeps every one more involved. … Everyone knows they’re going to play and feels confident they won’t be exhausted for the end of the game.”

Junior forward/center Lily Sarros said having several girls who can come off the bench and play significant minutes during the course of a game is a strength.

“It definitely gives us perseverance and heart,” Sarros said.

Sarros, freshman guard Gabrielle Rush, and sophomore guard/forward Maddie Roglich are the team’s consistent starters.

McKenna said Sarros is the team’s toughest inside presence; she can rebound the ball and finish offensively around the basket. Rush is “a legit scorer,” McKenna said, who gives the Red Devils an outside shooting threat.

The team also features seniors Mary Byrne (forward/center), Grace, Danielle Januszyk (guard), Jen Loiselle (forward) Stephanie Martinelli (guard), Lauren Pavich (guard/forward), and Jessi Rhodes (guard).

Juniors include Abby Concklin (guard), Rosalia LoPresti (forward), Olivia McGrory (forward), Addie Moeller (guard), Mary Somerfield (guard/forward), Lauren Zapka (guard) and Stephanie Zimmer (center).

Jenna Broz (forward/center) is a sophomore and Sydney Griffin (guard) is a freshman.

Grace said when the team struggles like it did early in the season, communication is poor and freelancing is common.

“We lose faith in each other and we try to do everything ourselves,” she said.

McKenna agreed. He said if a girl missed a shot, she immediately began thinking she had to make up for it by herself.

“We got out of sync for a while,” he said.

Trying to put the rough start behind them, McKenna, Grace, and Sarros said competing for the West Suburban Silver conference title is, of course, the goal this season. But the coach said he’d be very happy with an above-.500 record after a lopsided losing record in his first year.

Next up for the Red Devils is a 2:30 p.m. game at York Saturday, followed by a home date with Downers North at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and a trip to Oak Park River Forest on Dec. 16.