DAC second-place showdown between visiting Chesterton and Crown Point on the schedule for Monday, Jan. 26, 5:30 p.m. tipoff

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

So young and vertically challenged, Chesterton’s girls basketball team had the look of a group in rebuilding mode, yet here the Trojans are playing for second place in their final DAC game.
The girls game at Crown Point is set to tip off at 5:30 p.m. with the boys game to follow, an estimated 7 tipoff.
Both young girls teams enter the second-place showdown with 5-1 DAC records. The winner finishes alone in second place, one game behind undefeated conference champion Valparaiso. The loser ends up alone in third, one game ahead of Lake Central.
“They’re tough,” second-year Chesterton coach Candy Wilson said. “They’re really, really tough. They’ve improved a lot since last year.”
Sophomore Ava Richie, a 5-foot-7, high-volume 3-point shooter averaging 16.8 points, leads the Bulldogs (17-3) in scoring, assists (2.6) and steals (3.4) and gets 4.7 rebounds per game. Richie already has been offered a scholarship from Valparaiso University.
Crown Point also has a height advantage with 6-4 junior Ivey Henderson (10.7, 5.5), who knows how to use her size and strength to gain position advantages close to the basket and makes 64% of her field goal attempts.
“There are a lot of things you have to consider when you’re playing them, a lot of things,” Wilson said. “They weren’t pressing and now all the sudden they’ve added a diamond-and-one press.
“They’re athletic.”
So is Chesterton, which has done a nice job of forcing turnovers and taking them the other way for buckets.
Aggressive sophomore guard Lindsi McGuffey leads the Trojans in scoring (12.8) and 3-point percentage (.394), delivering from deep with a quick release.
Junior guard Novea Brandon (9.2 points per game) leads the team in assists (3.6) and steals (3.5).
At forward, senior Allison Van Kley brings non-stop hustle, strong defense and rebounding. Freshman Ella Boyanski gives the Trojans a high-scoring (9.5), 3-point shooting threat.
The way sophomore Reese Dilbeck battles down low has kept the Trojans in some games that most judging both teams from the layup line would think would not be competitive because of the size differential. Dilbeck plays much taller than 5-9.
“We try to get what we can out of what we’ve got as far as missing size a little,” Wilson said. “I feel like Reese has really stepped up in the post for us.”
Sophomores Taylor Kisic and Addison Pack and freshman Macie Pack, Addison’s sister, have sparked the Trojans off the bench.
“We kind of went ground zero, worked our way up and built the system offensively and defensively on what we do best because we don’t have the size we’ve had in the past and the kids have just absorbed it,” Wilson said. “They’re really good at focusing, coming to practice every day wanting to learn, wanting to get better. They’re not a group we have to try to convince that they need to be here. They come here ready to work every day.”
The Trojans went nine days without playing a game after winning at Hammond Central, 54-38, on Jan. 16.
Monday night’s game will be the first of three in a five-day stretch for the Trojans (14-6), who wrap up the regular season with home games Tuesday vs. South Bend Riley and Friday vs. Andrean.
Then the Trojans face host Valparaiso in a first-round sectional game Feb. 3.