Girls Basketball: Proviso East puts away Hinsdale South

Updated: February 18, 2012 12:07AM

A near perfect first quarter was all Proviso East needed Friday night to win its third consecutive regional title.

In the third battle between the West Suburban Gold champion (Hinsdale South) and the conference runner-up (Proviso East), it was the Pirates who came away with a 58-45 victory in the Class 4A Simeon Regional final. Fourth-seeded Proviso East led 18-2 to end the first quarter and survived one Hinsdale South (21-7) rally to claim its seventh regional title and sixth in the last seven years.

Kalea Parks, who was battling an illness, led the Pirates (23-8) with 19 points while Jaliria Wells had 11 points and Stacy Welch added 10. Parks and Jaliria and Jakeisha Wells each finished with eight rebounds.

“I was really tired, but I pushed it throughout,” Parks said. “I was still coughing, but I’ll get there.”

Parks, who scored a team-high 13 points in the previous meeting at Hinsdale South, had 13 points in the second half of the rematch. The No. 25-ranked and fifth-seeded Hornets won 59-43 on Feb. 3 in Darien to claim their first conference title since 2004. Proviso won the first game, 48-30, on Dec. 16 in Maywood, but Hinsdale played without leading scorer and rebounder Uzo Okoro, who was absent due to a family commitment.

Okoro struggled in the regional final by scoring eight points on 2-of-7 shooting. Toni Romiti, the only junior among the Hornets starters, scored 12 of her team-high 14 points in the second half.

“Obviously, they had a game plan and executed it perfectly,” Hornets coach Jen Belmonte said. “It’s tough when we cannot get the ball inside to Uzo. That happens. On the outside, our shot would not fall.”

The Pirates shot 8-for-11 in the first quarter while Hinsdale shot 1 of 8 and Okoro scored her team’s only basket in the period on a 10-foot jumper. Proviso led 4-2 with 4:49 to go. Proviso led 24-11 at halftime on 11 of 22 shooting in the first half. The Hornets shot 4 of 16. Poor outside shooting doomed the Pirates in the previous loss to Hinsdale. “On the bus, we talked about the (previous) game and how we lost,” Parks said. “We wanted to get a win back. We did a lot of shooting (in practice). We did free throws and jump shots. A lot of free throws.”

Proviso will play No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Young (29-0) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Lyons Sectional semifinal. Young won the previous meeting, 79-31, on Dec. 19 at Young.

In the third quarter, the Hornets rallied with 9-2 run to come within 28-22, but after the teams traded baskets, Proviso took control by scoring eight consecutive points.

“Part of the (comeback) is that you work so hard, but then they would come back with a little score on their end. It made it that much tougher,” said Andrea McNally, who scored nine points in her final game for Hinsdale South.

The senior starting quartet for the Hornets included McNally, Brittany DeClouette, Natalie Tomerlin and Okoro. Okoro is a returning state place finisher in jump events during the track and field season and McNally and DeClouette are among the state’s top badminton players this spring.

Tomerlin ended a three-year varsity career in basketball.

“What’s most memorable is growing as a team on and off the court,” Tomerlin said. “Through these girls I’ve met, where are wonderful relationships I have made.”

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