It seems fitting that the Hinsdale Middle School seventh grade girls basketball team had to defeat Bryan Middle School of Elmhurst to win the West Suburban Middle School Athletic Conference championship.
After splitting a pair of close games earlier in the season, HMS bested Bryan, 29-26, in the Nov. 18 championship game of the conference tournament. The league also includes Clarendon Hills Middle School, Blackhawk Middle School in Bensenville, Churchville Middle School and Sandburg Middle School, both in Elmhurst, Indian Trail Junior High School in Addison, and Jackson Middle School and Jefferson Middle School, both in Villa Park.
HMS advanced to the conference championship game by beating Indian Trail, 37-8, and CHMS, 19-8, in the league tournament.
HMS coach Kelly Pelak called the championship contest “a nail-biter,” as two of her team’s starting guards fouled out of the game with just over 4 minutes remaining in the six-minute fourth quarter.
“This required a tremendous amount of resilience on the part of the girls coming off the bench,” Pelak said. “Many girls were forced to take on roles that they had not previously played, in order to hold the team together until the buzzer.”
Pelak said she had high hopes for this year’s team heading into the season.
“The interest in girls’ basketball varies from year to year,” she said, adding that a year ago, sixth-graders had to be added to the seventh-grade team for which only seven girls tried out. “Although conference rules limited how much of the game they could play, they contributed tremendously to last year’s team,” Pelak said. “I was excited to see what they could do as a whole this year.”
The coach’s excitement was well-founded, as this season’s seventh-graders posted a 14-1 record.
“The most successful teams I have coached over the years, be it boys or girls, are the teams that care more about the team than they do about themselves individually,” she said. “This group had an incredible work ethic, cared genuinely for each other, and selflessly loved sharing the spotlight.”
That caring attitude was visible everywhere, Pelak said, and especially noticeable on the bench, with players not in the game at a particular time.
“There wasn’t a moment this season where the girls off the court weren’t just as invested in the game as the girls on the court,” she said. “That is truly rare. Our strength came from the depth of our team and everyone’s ability to step up when needed.”
HMS guard Lu McGrath said she had high hopes heading into the season, but wasn’t sure exactly what to expect.
“I knew we had a lot of talent, but other teams are talented, too,” she said. “We were willing to practice hard and play unselfishly, so I thought we could go far.”
HMS guard Elina Shah said she could not be happier with the team’s success.
“In my opinion, close games in basketball are the fun ones, and our game against Bryan was definitely close,” she said of the championship contest. “This team had put in a lot of time and effort, and winning that final championship made it all worth it.”
Teammate April Skinner agreed with Shah’s take.
I’m very happy,” she said. “I feel our success reflected our effort. “Cooperation and being optimistic were always there, even at times we weren’t at our best.”
Fellow player Sienna Chen said Pelak was a significant factor in the team’s success.
“Coach Pelak helped us learn and improve,” she said. “Winning games was just the result. Coach Pelak also made sure we understood each of our roles and that we backed each other up.”
This year’s seventh graders will have another opportunity to represent HMS next season as eighth graders. Pelak believes the future looks bright for them.
“Many of these young ladies play competitively for various travel teams in the area, and they are ‘ballers,’” she said. “CHMS also has a tremendous amount of talent at this level. I look forward to seeing the two groups come together as freshmen in a couple years at Hinsdale Central.”
The HMS roster included Hailey Gerstner, Ellie Brankin, Elina Shah, Ahna Arora, Maggie Quirk, Lu McGrath, Sienna Chen, April Skinner, Kate Sunderson, Marlowe Apple, and Emmy Havens.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
