Fourth-grade girls team impresses all at tourney

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The Hinsdale Inferno Fourth-Grade Girls team finished its conference season with an impressive showing in the conference tournament.

Updated: February 22, 2012 12:13PM

The Hinsdale Inferno Fourth-Grade Girls team finished its conference season with an impressive showing in the conference tournament. After a convincing victory in their first game against the Elmhurst Knights, the Inferno lost a close game to the top-seeded Prospect Blue Lady Knights. The Inferno entered the loser’s bracket in the double elimination tournament and ran the table to win the loser’s bracket. This set up a tournament championship game against the Geneva Vikings.

In the championship game, Geneva took an early lead in the first quarter, leading by as much as 10 points. But the Inferno would not give up and continued to chip away at the lead during the rest of the game. Down by 3 points with 5 seconds to play, the Inferno executed a play for a 3 point shot to send the game into overtime. The spirited comeback fell short as the tough Geneva defense smothered the last second three point attempt to clinch the championship.

This was the first Inferno Fourth-Grade Girls team to play in the West Suburban Girls Basketball League. The team included Caroline Booras, Jenna Collignon, Claire Cummings, Erin Gillen, Mary Heneghan, Aurora Korfist, Fiona Fitzsimons, Haley Paulson, Leah Paulson and Olivia Rayis. Coach Brett Paulson was delighted with the progress the girls made in their first season of travel basketball.

“All of the girls worked extremely hard and had a lot of fun,” he said. “We were impressed with their commitment, willingness to learn, sportsmanship and competitive drive. To get back into the final game from the loser’s bracket, we beat two teams that we had previously lost to, including the top-seeded Prospect Lady Knights.”

The Inferno will be competing in the Midwest Hoop Fest in Rockford in late February.