Experienced Valparaiso girls basketball team remains undefeated in DAC play with 59-32 win over visiting Chesterton

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Playing an opponent ranked eighth in the state and led by an Indiana Miss Basketball candidate was a tall order for a team as young and vertically challenged as Chesterton.
Yet, if the Trojans had any jitters Friday night at Valparaiso, they didn’t show them when the game arrived. Chesterton came out swinging and even held a lead heading into the second quarter.
Then the Vikings threw a counterpunch and the visitors never recovered, losing the battle of DAC unbeatens 59-32.
“We took some lumps tonight and it’s going to make us better,” Chesterton coach Candy Wilson said. “It’s hard to take it when it happens, but it’ll make us better.”
It’s easier to learn from mistakes when facing an opponent that makes you pay for them and Valpo certainly did that.
“We have a lot to work on,” Wilson said. “We have a ways to go but it gives us a starting point and we were in the same position last year at this time.”
Almost the exact same point. Friday’s loss was by 27 points and last season’s loss in the regular season to the Vikings was by 28 points. Chesterton lost the rematch in the sectional title game by seven points.
The game drew a large, loud crowd and both teams had their cheer squads adding to the volume.
The strong start proved Chesterton was emotionally ready to take on the DAC favorite, but in the long run the Trojans didn’t have the might to endure the fight.
Freshman Ella Boyanski opened the night’s scoring with a 2-pointer and sophomore Lindsi McGuffey buried a 3-pointer to make the lead 5-2. Sophomore Reese Dilbeck made a bucket at the basket to make it 7-4 and freshman reserve Macie Pack hit a 3-pointer to give the Trojans a 10-4 lead that faded to 10-9 at the end of the quarter.
“I guess you try to find some positives out of things and I thought our younger kids played well, played with energy,” Wilson said. “They have never had this experience before, been in this kind of environment.”
Pack led Chesterton with 10 points and McGuffey scored eight on a night that freshmen and sophomores combined for 30 of the 32 points.
Those girls were either in middle school or intermediate school when Valparaiso seniors Lilli Barnes and Cadynce Clark first were varsity teammates. Their long tenure as teammates showed in how well they played together with Barnes repeatedly feeding Clark, who had the hottest hand in the gym.
Clark made a 3-pointer in the first quarter and four more in the second to score 15 of her 18 points in the first half. Her three second-half points came when Barnes tilted her head to the left to signal a back cut, Clark cut, made the bucket and the free throw.
The Vikings also handled defensive pressure better than the visitors and dominated the boards on the way to the lopsided victory.
Barnes ran the show superbly for Valpo and did it in a way that will develop her teammates’ games and confidence. When Barnes, a Miss Basketball candidate, wasn’t feeding Clark for her soft 3-pointers, she was finding junior Delilah Kincaid inside. Kincaid, who also scored on putbacks, finished with 16 points and Barnes scored 13.
“Makes everybody better,” Wilson said of Barnes. “One of the best players in the state. That’s what they do. That’s what they do.”
Valparaiso (9-1 overall, 4-0 in the DAC) seized sole possession of first place in the DAC. Chesterton (8-4, 3-1) fell into a second-place tie with Crown Point.
Chesterton’s coach addressed how facing a team as strong as Valpo will help Chesterton in the long run.
“The pace. The size. You can’t be late when you’re playing good teams. You can’t be late on defense,” Wilson said. “You have to know what you’re doing. You have to make your adjustments, and we didn’t adjust very well. We didn’t get out on shooters like we were supposed to and we weren’t where we were supposed to be in our press either. So that’s some stuff that we can clean up, all things that are doable, that we can fix.”
The Trojans continue their schedule Tuesday night at home against Hobart (5-6).