Girls Basketball: Hanley leads Plainfield Central past Lockport

Updated: February 13, 2012 10:20PM

Plainfield Central senior Brigid Hanley scored 36 points, a school and District 202 girls record, and the Wildcats capitalized on 31 Lockport turnovers to earn a 70-58 victory Monday night in the quarterfinals of the Porters’ Class 4A Regional.

“I’m glad she’s on our team,’’ Plainfield Central coach Mark Krusz said.

Hanley’s previous best was 35 points freshman year playing on the varsity.

“Early on everything was falling for me,’’ Hanley said. “I was feeling good. It kept going throughout the game.’’

Central (13-13) led 56-41 going into the final quarter before Lockport closed the gap to 61-53 with 2:45 to play. A 6-0 Central run on baskets from Hanley, Lauren Kulaga and Dana Dominguez put the game out of reach.

“We kept control at the end and kind of pulled away,’’ Hanley said.

“At the end of the season you get kids saying ‘I want this to be over with,’’’ Krusz said. “I don’t think this group of seniors wants that to happen.’’

Kulaga finished with 15 points and Emily Obradovich contributed 11 rebounds and six points.

“You want to talk about co-MVP,’’ Krusz said of Kulaga. “She gets steals, deflections, knocks down big shots.’’

Taylor Quain led Lockport (5-22) with 21 points and Brittany Baker had eight.

“I feel bad for our seniors, I really do,’’ Lockport coach Krista Peterson said. “They all fought to the end. When we had the opportunities, we just couldn’t capitalize.’’

Central was ahead 41-33 at halftime led by 17 points from Hanley and 12 from Kulaga. Nine Lockport turnovers in the first quarter helped Central take a 21-11 advantage.

Central faces Benet (22-6) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the first semifinal game. Co-Southwest Prairie Conference champion Romeoville (22-4) plays Plainfield East (19-7) in the second semifinal.

“We’ll see what happens,’’ Krusz said. “If we get some rest and a new set of legs, it’ll be fantastic.’’

“I think coming off this win we’ll have some confidence,’’ Hanley said. “Anything can happen.’’

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