Another year, another regional for Hinckley

Updated: March 23, 2011 9:26AM

The Hinckley-Big Rock girls basketball team has done it again.

For the fifth consecutive season, the Royals earned themselves a regional plaque. This time, they did it with a 54-31 win over No. 3 seed Indian Creek in a Class 1A title game at Mooseheart Thursday night.

"It's one step closer," Hinckley-big Rock's Kaitlin Phillips said. "Having the plaque verifies we are on our way in the postseason."

"You have to take the mind-set that you are 0-0 and trying to go 1-0, and that's what we have done the past two years," Hinckley-Big Rock coach Greg Burks said of the Royals, the two-time defending Class 1A state champs.

With the win, the No. 1 seeded Royals improved to 26-3 and will play Somonauk in the sectional semifinal Monday at Hinckley-Big Rock at 8:15 p.m. The Bobcats advanced after they topped Newark, 29-21.

"The nice thing is now, we are home, which is a luxury," Burks said.

After the game, Indian Creek's Lauren Anderson had a nice message for the Royals.

"(Anderson) said it was her senior year, and it was an honor to play against us," Phillips said. "That was really nice of her. She said she really learned from us ... it brought us all to tears and she got a big hug from us."

The Royals led throughout and maintained a double-digit lead the entire second half. The largest run was 9-0 at the end of the second quarter, which gave them a 34-15 halftime advantage.

"They had every loose ball and battled on the boards," Indian Creek coach Paul Muchmore said. "Our offense struggled, and they took us out of what we wanted to do."

Phillips led the way with 24 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. Tess Godhart added 16 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Indian Creek (13-16) was led by sophomore Kate Thuestad's nine points and six rebounds. Sophomore Ariel Russell added eight points.

"(This season was) a lot of learning," Muchmore said. "Nice to see two of our top players are sophomores. Hopefully they can take a leadership role. Our seniors gave us something to build on."

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