Dukes head into Christmas tournament with 7-2 record.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
The York girls basketball shook off a tough conference loss with a recent 39-33 victory over Downers Grove North in West Suburban Conference Silver Division play.
York heads into the Riverside-Brookfield tournament the day after Christmas with a 7-2 overall mark and a 4-1 record in conference. York recently lost to Glenbard West in conference play in a game that was decided in the waning moments.
Against Downers Grove North, Danielle Dennis had 14 points and shot 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Caylin Rufus had nine points on three 3-pointers. York made seven 3-pointers in the game as opposed to five traditional field goals. Dennis made two 3s, while Kathleen Levins and Maddy Stark each had one three. It was a season-high for York for 3-pointers.
“Downers will slow the game down,” said York coach Brandon Collings. “All their games this year have been pretty close in the 20s and 30s. They don’t put a lot of pressure on you. They run their offense and look for a good shot. That means less possessions. We couldn’t get out and run as much as we wanted to. We ran our offense well and our defense played well. Our three-quarter trap worked well and we got steals out of that. We also shot the ball well.”
Dennis continues to average in the 14-15-point neighborhood on a nightly basis. “Danielle is consistent, for sure,” said Collings.
York’s only conference loss thus far came at the hands of Glenbard West. “We were chasing 10 points going into the fourth quarter and we came back and hit some shots and got some turnovers,” said Collings.
York led by two points at one point late in the fourth quarter. “They went down for the last possession, missed a shot and got the put-back and there was a foul. They hit the free throw and we lost the game,” said Collings. “We got beat for three quarters and then had one great quarter where we stuck around and it looked a lot like we were going to pull a game out that we didn’t deserve to win until the fourth quarter and then it’s taken away from you. It was a tough one.”
Collings pointed out Downers North’s lone field goal came on that late-game put-back with five seconds to play in regulation.
The coach also lauded the play of a host of contributors for the Dukes. “Madison Park is doing a great job taking care of the basketball,” said Collings. “Caylin did well against Downers North with three 3s. Kathleen Levins has been playing well off the bench. Maddy Stark has been hiting some shots for us.”
York now is idle until Monday, Dec. 26 when it plays in the Riverside-Brookfield tournament.
“Our schedule is so weird,” said Collings. “The last three weeks it’s been two games one week and other weeks there’s one game. I feel like we’re not able to get in a rhythm right now. We’ll have a game and then five practices and another game. This time, it’s 11 days until the next game, but there are final exams coming up and Christmas.”
York will face Taft, De La Salle and Argo in the first three games in pool play at R-B. The top four teams from the three pools then go into a bracketed format to close things out.
