DOWNERS GROVE- Sophomore guard Ionna Griffin steals the ball off the Leyden player and goes in for a bucket to expand the Mustangs lead. With that steal, the girls’ varsity basketball team had forced its twelfth turnover of the first half against the Leyden Eagles.
The Mustang’s (15-14) defensive efforts on the floor helped drive them to a 43-25 win over Leyden (20-9), which captured them their third straight WSG Conference title on the Mustangs Senior Night.
Senior forward Hayven Harden led the team in scoring with 17 points, but she and the Mustang’s defense frustrated Leyden throughout the game. The Mustangs changed their defensive game plan before the game which caught the Leyden Eagles off guard, forcing double-digit turnovers in the first half for the Eagles as well as holding all Leyden players to single-digit points. The Mustang’s defense in the second quarter saw Leyden burn two timeouts within 67 seconds of each other off of steals by senior guard Kamryn Gillespie and senior forward Katelyn Konieczka.
“Everyone was ready to play… being able to switch from one zone to another zone and being able to trap and not trap put a little pressure on them [Leyden] which helped turn the ball over. That was one of our goals tonight was to get more than 12 steals and we did that in the first half,” varsity head coach Lyndsie Long said.
The Mustangs began the night celebrating their seniors Kamryn Gillespie, Hayven Harden, Katelyn Konieczka and Kayla Meyer. All four seniors played a pivotal role in the game as their efficiency on both sides of the ball added up in the end for the Mustangs. It wasn’t just a senior-heavy night for the Mustangs though as junior guard Jaklyah Thomas put up 11 points with three 3-pointers throughout the game.
Even with her performance tonight, Thomas still felt that the Mustangs won this game as a team rather than relying on a few players.
“We all worked together, we all did it together, we all did it as a team,” Thomas said.
With a conference record of 10-1, the Mustangs secured their third straight conference title, which hasn’t been done since Proviso East went on a five-peat run from 2015-2020. Emotions ran high as the game began to wind down in the fourth when the four seniors were all subbed out with 54.2 seconds remaining. What resulted was a standing ovation from the crowd as the clock ran out and the tears of joy began from the triple-crowned Mustangs.
“This was amazing playing with these girls for the last time ever since freshman year and it’s great to win the conference once again,” Harden said.
With senior night and the battle for the conference title out of the way. The Mustangs turn their eyes to their final conference game against rivals Hinsdale South as their closing game of the regular season. Even though the Mustangs defeated the Hornets in a close 52-46 game back in December, the girl’s basketball team still wants to show out against their rivals before playoffs arrive.
“We’re going in where we want to win and got to win. It’s a huge rivalry at their place and there would be nothing better than to end our regular season with a win on their home floor,” coach Long said.
The regular season finale between the Mustangs and Hornets is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Monday, February, 10th at Hinsdale South High School with both teams out in full force as they prepare for the IHSA Girls Basketball Playoffs that are quickly approaching.
