Hillcrest up to grind vs. Shepard

The previous time Hillcrest and Shepard met in girls basketball, it was a rout, the Hawks winning by 40 points in the Rich South Thanksgiving Tournament.

Thursday night at Hillcrest was a different story. The Hawks prevailed again, but the 51-38 final score in the South Suburban Blue clash showed the improvement Shepard has made since the first go-around.

"We've grown up some," Astros head coach Pat O'Connor said. "They worked the whole way through, and they didn't play scared."

They did, however, get worn down by the Hawks, who were often quicker to loose balls and better on the boards. That eventually overcame Shepard's 2-3 zone, enabling Hillcrest to improve to 15-1, 6-0. Shepard dropped to 7-10, 3-3.

"There was a bit of loss of adrenaline," O'Connor said. "And the other thing was the kid starting to hit NBA 3-pointers."

That was Hawks senior Michelle Jamison, who found a sweet spot on the left side of the court and poured in three of them in the second half. The first two, bookending a 10-foot jumper by Kristin Marshall late in the third quarter, took a five-point Hillcrest lead and expanded it to 13 in 48 seconds. That made the difference.

"We needed to grind it out," said Hillcrest head coach John Maniatis. "And we're not a grinding team. We want to go up-tempo. We want to push the ball, cause a frantic style. Their bigs definitely controlled us in the paint tonight. They controlled the boards and the tempo."

Freshman Juantia Robinson led Hillcrest with 13 points, with Jamison adding 11.

The Astros, led by Demetria Ward's 19 points and 14 rebounds, had a run of their own in the second quarter before the Hawks took control, and Maniatis was slapped with a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct midway through it. Kelly Boyle made two of her five free throws to commemorate the occasion.

Hillcrest regained the lead on Robinson's 3-pointer, and extended its lead to 25-20 at the half. Shortly thereafter, Jamison began firing from outside the arc, and the Hawks flew.