Girls Basketball: Hillcrest casts aside Oak Forest

Updated: February 21, 2012 11:08PM

Host Hillcrest did a pretty solid job of getting the ball rolling in Tuesday night’s Class 3A sectional semifinal against No. 8 Oak Forest.

The Hawks led 9-0 after just 1:40.

“Basically, you can sum it up in one word. Urgency,” senior Jasmine Sanders said after the Hawks’ 61-34 victory. “Our Class of 2012, this is our last year, so we’re just trying to make a push to finish the season on a win.”

Shannise Heady led Hillcrest with 12 points. Sanders added 10 points, and Samirah Ali, Mariam Awoniyi, Jahmia Phillips and Dana Gettis all added six as the No. 2 Hawks (25-3) advanced to Thursday’s sectional final.

Kelly McEathron had nine points, and Katie Swanson seven points and 10 rebounds for Oak Forest (19-11).

“Oak Forest is always our biggest rival in conference,” Heady said. “It’s always a good game between us. That’s why we came out ready to play, we came out focused.”

The Hawks took drama out of the game’s atmosphere with a 22-2 start in which they ran the floor seemingly at will.

It was 29-4 Hillcrest early in the second period before Oak Forest found any kind of rhythm, using a 9-0 outburst, that included a three-pointer by Brianna Getzloff, to avert a complete runaway.

Ali and Heady had two buckets each during a 15-0 knockout run to start the third quarter.

“We needed to come out composed, but we still had to make sure we did the right fundamentals,” Oak Forest coach Steve Schanz said. “We didn’t in those times, and against Hillcrest … give them a lot of credit. They came out with a little extra pep to their step and really took it to us.

“It took us a while to recover from that, but I think our girls ended the game the way we usually play.”

The Bengals outscored Hillcrest 14-10 in the fourth period.

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