HOOPESTON — Ugly wins are better than pretty losses.
That’s the way that Danville junior Gabi Huerta referred to Monday’s 39-35 victory for the Vikings against the Hoopeston Area Cornjerkers.
“Any win is a good night,’’ she said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we are used to ugly wins.’’
Huerta had a team-high 11 points for the Vikings, including seven in the second half but she was 0-for-6 from the free-throw line.
“Free throws are very important and that’s something we have to work on,’’ said Huerta as the Vikings were a dismal 3-of-19 at the charity stripe. “We also need to work on our passing.’’
The Vikings (2-3) took the lead for good on a third quarter 3-pointer from Amara McFarland, but they saw the Cornjerkers (3-2) pull within one point at 26-25 and again at 29-28 because of some turnovers leading to easy baskets for Hoopeston Area.
“Toward the end, I think fatigue started getting to much and we started trying to pass through hands,’’ Danville coach Glennie Watson said. “They were able to get some breakaway layups off some of our live-ball turnovers.’’
Watson admitted that Danville had a mixed up lineup at the start.
“We’ve been battling some issues with injuries and illness,’’ he said. “We had some girls miss practice over the holiday and we had to make some lineup adjustments, which set us back a little at the start.
“I thought the girls did a better job of executing in the second half and we moved the ball better until we started to get tired.’’
Even with all of the mistakes and miscues, Watson admitted it was still better to get the win.
“It’s easier to get some of our mistakes corrected after a win, but we have to keep these girls honest,’’ he said. “We still have a lot of things to work on and we need to get them corrected before we get into Big 12 Conference play.’’
Hoopeston Area coach Aaron Fell knew right away what his team did wrong on Monday night.
“We shot terrible,’’ he said, noting that the Cornjerkers were 10-of-25 at the free-throw line and they missed a number of easy shots around the basket. “If you make your layups and your free throws — it’s not even a ballgame.’’
The shooting problems for Hoopeston Area on Monday have not been an issue in its previous games.
“We have been shooting the ball well … and we have been making our layups,’’ said Fell. “Against Covington (on Friday at the Comet Classic) we shot 91 percent at the free-throw line.’’
And why did that change on Monday?
“Honestly, probably not enough practice time between games,’’ he said. “After Friday’s game, we just had a shootaround on Saturday. That’s not enough actual getting in the gym and going at it practice-wise.
“And, they might still have a little turkey hangover.’’
Despite their problems, Fell admitted it was a good experience.
“It was a chance to play against a physical defensive team,’’ he said. “That always help when you have a Salt Fork coming up next week. We know they are going to play good physical defense.’’
Maddie Barnes was the leading scorer for Hoopeston Area with 11 points — all coming in the second half, while Claire Dixon had 8.
Box Score
At Hoopeston
Danville 39,
Hoopeston Area 35
Danville (39) — Jhe’Nyi Parker 1 0-1 2, Mya Cross 0 0-0 0, Ashanti Conaway 2 1-3 5, Amara McFarland 2 2-5 7, Gabi Huerta 5 0-6 11, Lindsey Porter 3 0-0 6, Audrina Burns 0 0-0 0, Jada Bell 4 0-4 8, Auriyounce Sigerill 0 0-0 0, Karmyn Anglemyer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 3-19 39.
Hoopeston Area (35) — Rilyn Fell 0 0-0 0, Mady Klaber 0 4-8 4, Kaedyn Goodrum 0 0-0 0, Brylie Cox 2 2-4 6, Claire Dixon 2 4-7 8, Maddie Barnes 4 0-0 11, Shay Layden 0 0-0 0, Addyson Kelnhofer 3 0-6 6. Totals: 11 10-15 35.
Danville 4 12 17 10 — 39
HA 7 3 16 9 — 35
3-pointers — Danville 2 (McFarland, Huerta). Hoopeston Area 3 (Barnes 3). Total fouls — Danville 21, Hoopeston Area 16. Fouled out — none.
Records — Danville 2-3 overall. Hoopeston Area 3-2 overall.