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Hampshire is known as an outside shooting team, but junior guard Chloe Van Horn is on a different mission.
While Ashley Herzing and Whitney Thompson are knocking down threes, Van Horn is focused on getting to the basket for offensive rebounds and easy points.
“My coaches have been encouraging me throughout my three years on varsity to just keep going after the boards,” Van Horn said. “My coaches and teammates push me and let me know my strength is to go downhill, so they keep pushing me to do that.”
Van Horn did that early and often Monday in a 56-36 Fox Valley Conference win at Dundee-Crown. She scored the Whip-Purs’ first six points of the game, four coming on offensive rebounds.
She wound up leading all scorers with 15 points and also grabbed 13 rebounds for Hampshire (14-10, 11-2). Mikala Amegasse added 13 points off the bench. Thompson scored 12 points and Herzing had 11.
Dundee-Crown (5-18, 4-9) was paced by Monica Sierzputowski with 11 points. Sara Farrell and Reese Westland added eight apiece.
Van Horn’s physical start to the game helped the Whip-Purs jump out to an 11-2 lead and never look back.
“When she puts her mind to it, she’s a really good rebounder,” Hampshire coach Eric Samuelson said. “I guess it’s an attack mentality on offense and defense.
“When she attacks, she brings so much to the table for us.”
Van Horn knows that she set the tone for the team with her early physical play, which is something she takes pride in.
“I think getting into the flow like that is important because it not only gives me buckets right away but it gets the team going,” Van Horn said. “I think it also shows when we crash the offensive boards good things will happen.
“That also contributed to us later on with other people doing the same thing.”
Herzing ended that run with a 3-pointer, which was an open shot thanks to Van Horn’s early work around the basket.
“It’s great because we do have shooters,” Samuelson said. “That opens up the middle and she can take advantage of that. Now they have to close on the middle and we have our shooters open.”
Van Horn knows she has the luxury of the top two 3-point shooters in the conference on her side — Herzing and Thompson — if she gets kept away from the basket.
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“If help side is there, I know Ashley and Whitney are there for the kick out,” Van Horn said.
Dundee-Crown coach John Gonnella took notice of Van Horn’s play afterward.
“That was our surprise,” Gonnella said. “We knew that Whitney and Ashley were their shooters. (Van Horn) came out and had a really good game, started hitting some shots.
“We didn’t adjust in time.”
The Chargers were within 22-16 at halftime. Hampshire, however, put together a 20-2 burst in the third quarter to take control of the game for good.
Thompson scored 10 points in that span.
“I got on them a little bit at halftime,” Samuelson said. “You’re coming off a win over the hottest team in the Fox Valley (Cary-Grove). Is this who you want to be?
“It’s got to start on the defensive end. I thought once they committed to the defensive end, the offense took care of itself.”
With five conference games remaining before the playoffs, Van Horn wants to see the Whip-Purs keep their hot play going.
“I think it’s important for us to keep playing our game and finish out the season strong and go into the playoffs with the same mindset,” Van Horn said. “Our goal is to win a regional championship.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.