Conant's Dhillon shoots into 3-point finale

At the end of her first season directing Conant's girls basketball team, coach Deirdre Naughton said she was thrilled to have Nireet Dhillon back to lead the team for one more year.

When the junior guard does return to the 2015-16 Cougars, Dhillon will have a new title - Class 4A Three-Point Showdown Queen of the Hill.

She worked overtime on Friday night to top three opponents and today, at approximately 1:45 p.m. at Illinois State's Redbird Arena, Dhillon will shoot for Illinois' Queen of the Hill.

Dhillon will face Class 3A champ Amy Bukovsky (a Montini junior), Class 2A champ Lexi Steele (a Carlyle sophomore), and Class 1A champ Shayne Smith (a Hume-Shiloh sophomore).

To win the Class 4A crown on Friday night, Dhillon needed two extra sessions.

In the final shoot-off against Naperville Central senior Emily Kraft (6), Dhillon hit her all 5 shots from the first rack and finished with 9-of-10.

In the first and second sessions, Dhillon hit all five of her shots in the second rack to stay in the competition.

"I had to focus on my first rack in that last session," she joked afterward to the television commentator on the floor.

"She was awesome," Naughton said. "She practiced all week and really wanted to win it. Even though there were tryouts for all our spring sports, the athletic director made gym space for Nireet to practice."

Dhillon had to make her last five shots in the first overtime to tie Kraft and advance to another playoff.

"She doesn't get fazed by anything, even in the playoff," Naughton said. "And we have about five girls down here so pumped up and excited for her. It was awesome. Even people even the stands were cheering for her when she made those five shots in a row to stay alive (in the second round).

"Nireet is so excited and everyone is excited for her, texting and watching on television."

The other two Class 4A finalists were Prospect sophomore Haley Will and St. Charles East senior Kyra Washington.

Dhillon is a two-time Daily Herald all-area selection who averaged 9 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals this season. She had more than 35 3-pointers while shooting 42 percent from long distance.