By Mike Clark
The two best girls basketball teams in the Public League also have the best rivalry.
“Oh my gosh, it’s super intense,” Kenwood senior Talya Tillman said Tuesday night. “I didn’t realize how intense it was. But yeah, I’m just super happy.”
Understandably so.
With Tillman contributing a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, Kenwood held off Young 57-52 in the Class 4A Mother McAuley Sectional semifinals.
Ariella Henigan had 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Broncos (25-8), who advanced to face defending Class 3A champ Nazareth in Thursday’s sectional championship game.
Kiaya Johnson scored a game-high 30 points for Young (27-6), while Destiny Jackson had eight points, seven rebounds and six steals.
It was the seventh game in the series over three seasons. Young has won all three meetings in the Public League title game and leads 4-3. But Kenwood now has knocked the Dolphins out of the IHSA playoffs two years in a row, making the necessary adjustments in the rematches.
The rivalry isn’t going anywhere. Young has no seniors on its roster, while Kenwood has only two senior starters (Tillman and Jamia Rufus). So most everyone will be back next season.
Tillman, who is 6-foot, and 6-1 junior Diann Jackson — who had been sidelined earlier this season — were effective together as Kenwood used its big lineup most of the game on Tuesday.
“We both know our roles,” Tillman said. “We both just try to rebound and score. And we try to work with each other, like a bunch of high-low (post) stuff.”
“Diann’s presence today really made a difference,” Young coach Krissy Harper said. “That was something we had trouble with because we couldn’t match up very well.
“We’re a transition team so size does not necessarily play in our game. But kudos to her for coming back.”
That was one of the adjustments Kenwood coach Andre Lewis made after the Broncos lost 68-60 in the Public League final 10 days earlier.
“It’s a couple things we noticed in the city championship game,” he said. “Whenever we took our time and executed and got the ball in the lane, good things happened. So we wanted to exploit that today.”
The Broncos also tweaked some things on the other end of the floor.
“Our defense was something that we definitely wanted to improve — keeping our girl in front of us and a lot of help defense,” Tillman said. “So we definitely worked on that a lot and that helped us today.”
The game was tied at 34 midway through the third quarter when Kenwood went on an 8-0 run to lead 42-34 with 34 seconds left in the period. The rally included a basket and two free throws by Tillman.
The Broncos led the rest of the way, but the Dolphins always stayed within striking distance.
Johnson hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull Young within 55-52 with nine seconds left, but Henigan made two free throws with seven seconds remaining for the final margin.
Young’s future is bright with the entire roster returning.
“Our reload game is going to be really crazy,” Harper said. “We’re ready, 100% ready to go.”
