BERWYN — Hinsdale Central senior Gabrielle Rush was not going to let her storied high school career come to an end Saturday against Proviso East in the Morton Regional championship.
The Red Devils’ all-time leading scorer dropped a career-high 40 points as No. 6-seeded Hinsdale Central defeated No. 3 Proviso East 77-63. It’s the first regional championship in Rush’s four years and came on the heels of her first playoff victory, Hinsdale Central’s 66-55 win over Morton in the regional semifinals.
“Coming here I wasn’t ready for it to be over,” Rush said. “I was really determined to win. It was so huge that everyone came out and stayed motivated the entire time. We knew it was going to be tough. In the past everyone has been tired at this time of the year but we’ve done a really good job staying together and picking each other up.”
The 14-point victory wasn’t nearly that close. Hinsdale Central (21-9) completely dominated Proviso East (25-4) from the opening tip and led 23-6 after the first quarter, 43-21 at halftime and 62-36 heading into the fourth.
Rush was consistent throughout, scoring 20 points in each half while shooting 9-for-19, including 8-for-14 from 3-point range. She was also 14 of 16 from the free-throw line.
“Gabrielle has scored great all year and she’s been at 23 or 24 points in the last few wins,” Hinsdale Central coach Tom McKenna said. “I felt like she was going to have a bust-out game. It was a record night for her and she was unbelievable in the first half. But a lot of other kids played well for us as well.”
“I had some shots fall that weren’t normally falling,” Rush said. “I think God was looking out for me.”
Saturday’s game was postponed from Thursday because Morton canceled classes due to the cold. The frigid temperatures may have been the best thing for the Red Devils because it gave them a chance to game plan for the West Suburban Gold champs.
McKenna believed that as long as the Red Devils stayed under control they could beat the vaunted Pirates’ press and they did just that. On defense, Hinsdale Central packed the lane and allowed Proviso East to launch 3-pointers. The strategy worked well as the Pirates shot 7-for-35 from 3-point range.
“The biggest part for us was to make them beat us with the 3,” said Hinsdale Central senior Payton Katich, who had 13 points. “We wanted to make sure they couldn’t penetrate the lane because we knew they couldn’t win by making long shots.”
Another factor helping the Red Devils was a desire to atone for an earlier disappointment. They let the West Suburban Silver title slip away with a loss in their last conference game, 53-46 to Proviso West.
“It was our senior night and we were all really down,” Katich said. “We went into that game too confident. I think that loss propelled us into the state tournament.”
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Gilley Martinelli added eight points for the Red Devils while Paige Bareck chipped in six points.
Hinsdale Central will face Trinity at 7:30 Tuesday in the Young Sectional semifinals.