Veteran Valparaiso girls basketball team ends Chesterton’s 15-8 season with a wire-to-wire domination, 63-31, in a first-round sectional game at Valpo

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

A bad ending might forever taint an otherwise good movie, but it tends not to work that way in sports.
Baseball fans don’t remember Willie Mays for his days with the New York Mets. Basketball fans don’t picture Michael Jordan wearing a Washington Wizards uniform.
And as recency bias fades, the 2025-26 Chesterton girls basketball team won’t be remembered for its final game, a 63-31 blowout loss at the hands of host Valparaiso in a first-round sectional game Tuesday night.
On most nights, the Trojans were scrappy and successful, logging a 15-8 overall record and a 5-2 conference mark that earned them third place in the DAC.
In the finale, they were outmatched in terms of size, talent and experience. They couldn’t get into their offense because they were swarmed into excessive turnovers by Valpo’s relentless pressure from the start to well into the fourth quarter, by which time the outcome long since had been settled.
This never was a game, but it sure was a better season than most would have guessed.
“Tonight doesn’t define us,” second-year Chesterton coach Candy Wilson said. “It’s going to drive us. We won’t forget this. We won’t forget this. That I can guarantee you.”
The players, Wilson is convinced, will channel the embarrassing outcome in the right way.
“This is a very driven group,” Wilson said. “We will put this newspaper clipping up in the locker room and it’s going to stay there until we tear it down next time.”
As always, Valpo was led in every way by the great Lillian Barnes, a senior who went 8-0 vs. Chesterton, and has signed a lucrative NIL deal to play basketball at Ball State.
Unofficial stat-keeping had Barnes with nearly a triple-double (20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists). Teammates cashed in on her generous ball distribution with great shooting.
The Vikings drained six first-half 3-pointers, which combined with Chesterton’s 15 turnovers, led to a 37-13 score at the intermission. The Trojans never drew closer than that.
“They just shot the lights out,” Wilson said. “It didn’t matter what defense we were in. You’ve got to hand it to them, they played a great game.”
Junior Delilah Kincaid made a pair of 3-pointers and scored 16 points. Senior Cadynce Clark drained three 3-pointers for nine points.
Chesterton sophomore Reese Dilbeck battled bigger bodies, hung tough in the paint and had nine points and eight rebounds to show for it.
Effort never was an issue with this Trojans team.
“We were just telling them I truly enjoyed coaching them. They came so far this season,” Wilson said. “If you would have told me we would be 15-8 with the amount of kids who didn’t have a lot of experience … We had two senior leaders and we had injuries in the middle of the season and people stepped up. They just kept fighting. It’s such a good group of kids who are hard workers and they’re going to keep playing. They got better and better.”
Three freshmen, four sophomores, one junior and two seniors played in the game for the Trojans. Three starters and the first four players off the bench were freshmen and sophomores.
“I’ve been in these positions before and they will get there,” Wilson said. “They will be the team that nobody wants to play. That’s the goal.”
On many nights, the team’s best player was a freshman or sophomore.
On this night, Dilbeck had the best game.
“This was definitely a fun year,” Dilbeck said afterward. “What were we, 15-8? It was a really, really good year. We all came together. I really enjoyed it. We really connected, good team-bonding. I think this is a really, really good group.”
No longer teaming with Dilbeck will be one of the things two-year starter Allison Van Kley, a senior, will miss about playing basketball for Chesterton.
“She’s always in a good mood and she’s always so funny and having a good time, and if she misses a shot, she doesn’t let it get to her,” Van Kley said. “And she picks you up when you’re down. She’s a great teammate.”
Dilbeck believes she is a better player for having played with Van Kley.
“I enjoy her a lot,” Dilbeck said. “She’s pushed me to be my best every day and encouraged me through it all.”
A senior and a sophomore. Those types of personal connections were common on this team and showed in their play in games in which they were able to stay competitive, which was most of them.
This wasn’t the most talented team Van Kley played for at Chesterton and certainly not the most experienced, but in her view it was the one that felt most like a team.
“I’ll remember the sisterhood and the culture that we had this year,” Van Kley said. “In past years … not everyone was playing for the team, but this year everyone was playing for each other. When I came into this program, there was not a good culture, there was not really good chemistry. I tried throughout my years to help that grow.”
Wilson is bullish on her team’s future.
“I’ve been in these positions before and they will get there,” Wilson said. “They will be the team that nobody wants to play. That’s the goal.”