DANVILLE – The Danville girls basketball team shot from just about anywhere.
Wing Alenah Boeshart, along with guards Brooklyn Hess and Ella Proper, led Danville to a 78-38 win over visiting Fairfield Christian in a Division IV district semifinal on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
Next, the Devils have a date with top-seeded Berne Union in Sugar Grove on Friday, Feb. 26, seeking their second district championship in two years.
The fourth-seeded Blue Devils have gone through their postseason opponents like a buzz saw, outscoring them 207-68. Most of that is due to their ability to share the load.
All the way down to the eleventh player, they shoot confidently from all over the floor.
“That’s kind of how we want to play,” Danville coach Matt Proper said. “It’s good to see. You want to peak at tournament time. This is when you want to play your best basketball. We were high-energy off the bench. They came in and scored and played good defense.”
On Tuesday against Fairfield Christian, the 5-foot-11 Brooklyn Hess (15 points) got herself and her team off to a strong start with nine first-half points — including a pair of putbacks, a pair of steals and a 3-pointer. Coach Proper was able to rest her throughout the game, allowing her younger sister, 5-foot-3 Kylee Hess, to land a pair of 3-pointers and finish the game with eight points, all in the second half.
“We can rely on our bench.” Brooklyn Hess said. “It’s not like (one or two of us) doing the work. We know that there’s going to be another person that is just as fired up and ready to come in.”
Boeshart picked it up in the middle two quarters with a pair of 3-pointers, totaling 16 points for the game.
“Everyone scores and gets everyone pumped up,” she said, “Everyone brings their effort and intensity to all the games.”
With Fairfield Christian shooting 7-for-16 from the free throw line, the Devils were able to get away with a dozen fouls. Post player Camie Newbold (six points) went to the bench in the second half with four fouls, but returned later in the game to help her team hold the Knights to four points in the final quarter.
“We just need to keep our hands off,” Boeshart said. “We play a little ‘handsies’ sometimes.”
Ella Proper, a 5-foot-6 freshman, scored eight of her 14 game points in the third quarter.
“We support each other,” she said. “If someone made a good shot we pointed; and whenever anyone made a good pass, someone pointed to them and we worked as a team better.”
Jenna Grabans (12 points) and Lauren Noland (11 points) led the Knights in scoring.
Berne Union has only played two tournament rounds this season but has dominated their opponents, outscoring them 135-24. That includes Tuesday’s 65-7 shellacking of ninth-seeded Madison Christian.
The Devils and Rockets last met in the tournament in 2018 when Berne Union knocked Danville out with a 49-40 win in a district semifinal.
Coach Proper knows that Danville will need another performance like its last three games to have a shot at the district title and a longer ride in the playoffs.
“I think if we play like (Tuesday), with high energy and effort, we can do it,” Coach Proper said. “I believe that — especially the way we shot the ball — we’re confident with all our (players).”
