Do-it-all sophomore Reese Dilbeck opens season with double-double from center position in Chesterton girls basketball win at Highland

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Numbers from multiple statistical categories help to show what Chesterton sophomore basketball player Reese Dilbeck did well in Thursday night’s season-opening, 62-39 victory at Highland. A single word imparts the same message: everything.
Fresh off playing a huge role as a setter for the Chesterton volleyball team that secured the third sectional title in school history, Dilbeck played very much like a basketball player who spends all her free time in the gymnasium refining her skills and using her instincts to make the right basketball play in every situation.
“People look at her and they don’t think basketball,” second-year Chesterton coach Candy Wilson said. “But she is so smart, and she’s stronger physically. You look at her and she’s just bigger this year in a good way. She posted up and that girl couldn’t guard her down there. That got her in her groove, but she sees a lot of things, so you can put her anywhere. You can put her in the post. She can bring the ball down. You can put her on the wing.”
During the maroon and gold scrimmage, Dilbeck grew hot shooting 3-pointers from the corner, so she can do that too, although she didn’t attempt any 3s in this game.
In the 23 minutes Dilbeck was on the court, Chesterton outscored Highland by 30 points, according to HUDL. In the nine minutes she sat, Highland gained seven points.
Dilbeck totaled 11 points and a team-high 10 rebounds (seven on the offensive boards), had three assists and led the team with four steals and six deflections. She made 4 of 5 field goal attempts and 2 of 3 free throws.
Much of her development in basketball came when playing with and against boys, including her brother Peyton, a junior starting cornerback for the football team.
“I’ve been playing basketball ever since I was like 8 or 10 with my brother,” Dilbeck said. “We used to live in Hammond, so we played in the Highland co-ed league, and I played outdoors with my brother all the time. I mostly played co-ed with the boys.”
She knows how to post up, looking both forceful and smooth in doing so.
Teammates clearly enjoy having her on the court with them.
“Reese does everything for us,” McGuffey said. “She rebounds. She’s really good offensively and defensively. Her defense is really good. She’s always on the move, active, long, tall. She knows to keep the ball moving and keep herself moving on offense, keep her body moving, get into open gaps, all that.”
Dilbeck played in 23 games for the varsity as a freshman and averaged 2 points and 1.1 rebounds per game, numbers that project to explode this season in every category.