On Friday, Jan. 12 the York Dukes boys varsity basketball team headed over to Hinsdale Central to face their rivals.

Coming in, York was 9-5, but winless (0-2) in the WSC Silver conference. While Hinsdale Central entered at 3-7, and two of those three wins were in conference play (2-0). York would need to come out with a win in order to dig themselves in a deep hole in the conference race.

“I’ve learned so far throughout my high school career that you always have to be prepared for a battle against them,” senior Angelo Martucci said. “It’s always a good feeling to beat your rival.”

York came out on fire, as they jumped out to a 13-3 lead after the first quarter. They were lead by a pair of threes from junior, Erik Cohn. The Dukes remained strong throughout the first half, as they went into the locker room up 22-11.

“It’s always a good feeling to beat Hinsdale, and especially at their place,” junior Sam Walsh said. “They are a good team and it was a big win for us. I think our defense played a huge role in our win. We also shot the ball very well which we know we are capable of doing.”

While Hinsdale managed to make it close towards the end, York never surrendered their lead and hung on to win 53-49.

“I think our key to beating Hinsdale was moving the ball around and finding the open man,” sophomore Nate Shockey said. “We really won the game on the defensive end. That game means a lot to us and it’s great to get a win at their place. We knew going into it that it was going to be a hard fought game and it’s great to come out on top.”

The month of January presents the team with five conference games that will either make or break their season. After dropping the first of these games to Oak Park at home, it meant a lot for the team to bounce back with a win at Hinsdale. Stay tuned for more York Basketball updates.