Yorkville Christian rolls past Hinckley-Big Rock in regional semifinal

SHABBONA – No. 4-seeded Yorkville Christian rolled to a 61-30 victory over No. 6 Hinckley-Big Rock in the second Class 1A Indian Creek Regional semifinal Tuesday.

Thursday, the Mustangs will be looking for their first regional title in the program’s history when they square off with No. 1 Serena for the championship. The Huskers were 54-23 winners over the host and No. 8-seeded Timberwolves in the first semifinal.

Yorkville Christian dominated the game with its balanced attack and pressure defense.

Payton Wallin led the Mustang scoring with a game-high 23 points, including five 3-pointers.

“I knew it was going to be a battle,” Hinkley-Big Rock coach Bob Barnett said. “No. 15 [Wallin] was shooting 3s, then you had 22 [Ava Diqui – 10 points] and 21 [Danielle Bulson – 16]. They are just a good team.”

The Mustangs and Royals played an even first quarter with Yorkville Christian (19-8) holding only a two-point advantage after the first eight minutes.

The Mustangs broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring Hinkley-Big Rock 21-5 for a 31-18 lead at the break.

Yorkville Christian coach Jeff Schutt said defense was key.

“Sami Carlino and Anna Hermann were the two players we wanted to neutralize because they were the bulk of Hinkley’s scoring, and we were able to do that,” Schutt said.

Yorkville Christian’s pressure defense rattled Hinkley-Big Rock (14-11).

“We played our hearts out, and we did the best that we could,” Carlino said. “Yorkville was overplaying us completely, so it was very hard to move around their defense.”

The senior led Hinkley-Big Rock’s scoring with nine points. Hermann chipped in seven.

The Mustangs held the Royals to four points in the third quarter to extend the lead to 56-23 at the start of the fourth quarter.

“Our teamwork was great tonight, for sure,” Wallin said. “We were really good at giving the extra pass and playing hard on defense,”

Yorkville Christian beat Serena (24-7) 47-43 earlier this month.

“Our program is only in its fourth year,” Schutt said. “We took some girls who never played basketball before, so we are very happy to be in this position.”

Jenna Setchell (15 points) and Kendall Whiteaker (12) led Serena’s scoring in the first semifinal.

Ally Keilman tallied six for Indian Creek (7-13).

The Timberwolves’ program also is on the upswing. Last year the squad did not play a varsity schedule

“Two years ago, we only had five or six girls playing varsity, and last year we made the decision to just play at the frosh-soph level. So to have 16 girls and [senior] Isabella [Turner] coming back, I think we had a really good season,” Indian Creek coach Paul Muchmore said. “I told the girls that from November until now was quite an improvement.”