The top-ranked Hinton girls basketball team avenged an early season loss at the state tournament on Tuesday night defeating West Lyon by a 46-45 final score in the state quarterfinal round.
That loss early in the season to the Wildcats propelled Hinton to an 18-game winning streak leading up to the state tournament. Sydney Doeschot says once they knew they would meet up again, she wanted to prove that the previous game was not indicative of Hinton’s skill.
With the game coming down to the wire, everyone needed to step up and make some plays throughout the entirety of the game. Hinton head coach Matt Leary says he saw many of his players step up and make some big plays throughout the game.
With the run Hinton went on late in the second quarter, they found themselves in the lead heading into the halftime break. That was a change of pace from their last state tournament appearance where they trailed every time at the half. Coach Leary reminded his team that West Lyon would make a run at them, and they would have to withstand it.
Coming out of the half, it was a bit tougher for Sydney Doeschot to get the scoring she needed to get. That allowed her to turn to Keely Derochie who hit some big mid-range shots. Derochie says it took her some time to get into a groove, but she was on a roll once she got her shot down.
Hinton’s battle on the boards led to them outrebound West Lyon 39-25 with many players contributing. Sydney Doeschot, who is not the tallest player on the floor, had 10 rebounds to go along with her 15 points. She says she was looking for any way to impact the game.
Coach Leary says everyone was getting involved in rebounding which led to their sustained success.
As the game was progressing to the end, Hinton trailed 45-44 late in the fourth quarter. Addison Glass was fouled on a drive to the basket, and she sunk a pair of free throws to secure the win. She says she had to make an adjustment after realizing that the three-point shot was not there for her.
Coach Leary says the girls showed some grit and toughness late in the game to pull it out.
With a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double, Derochie was one of those girls that was going to do whatever it took to win the game. She says she came in motivated to right the wrong of the loss earlier in the season.
Hinton advances to the semifinal round with a 21-1 record, and they will play on Friday morning. Doeschot says that gives the team plenty of time to rest and recover before another tough game at the state tournament.
Coach Leary says Hinton needs to improve offensively if they want to stick around for the championship game on Saturday as well.
Hinton will take on Denver in the state semifinal round on Friday at 10:00 AM. KLEM Radio will have coverage starting at 9:45 AM. It will be a rematch of the two teams that competed for the Class 2A state volleyball championship.
