Campbell Thulin and Downers Grove North did not require much of a mental reset for a surprise playoff opponent.

Moments after the Trojans survived their own regional scare last Thursday, they found out Hinsdale Central had upset defending state champion Kenwood. That meant a fourth meeting Tuesday with the Red Devils, who the Trojans beat three times during the regular season.

“We were preparing for Kenwood, in practices we were preparing for them. To hear Hinsdale Central, we still had to lock in. It was a different kind of mode,” Thulin said. “We are all really excited for this rivalry. Kenwood, we don’t really have a rivalry. Hinsdale Central, we all take this game really personal.”

It might be personal, but the Trojans took care of business.

Thulin, a junior guard, scored a team-high 14 points and led a defense that limited Hinsdale Central star Katherine Skinner. Downers Grove North never trailed, gained separation in the third quarter and held on for a 38-32 win in the Class 4A Hinsdale Central Sectional semifinal.

The second-seeded Trojans (30-2), in a sectional final for the first time since 2020, advance to face top-seeded Nazareth (31-3) on Thursday. Nazareth beat St. Ignatius 47-29 in Tuesday’s first game.

Elizabeth Murphy added 15 rebounds, Caitlin Sandridge eight points and Ady Fanta seven points for Downers Grove North. Adriana Giannini scored 17 points and Riley Orozco nine for Hinsdale Central (21-12).

Thulin shot just 4 for 15 from the floor, part of Downers Grove North’s 30.8% shooting. But she came through at opportune times.

Thulin hit a 3-pointer and assisted a Fanta 3 to pull away from a one-point game midway through the second quarter.

Her driving layup to end the half started an 8-0 run into the third quarter. She swished all four free throws late, all while holding Skinner to four points.

“That’s what she does,” Downers Grove North coach Stephan Bolt said. “I thought she made some big shots to give us some separation at big moments, and she was just lockdown defensively. She typically does do those things.”

Playing for a team known for its grind-it-out defensive style, Thulin can make some breathtaking plays athletically.

In the third quarter Tuesday she closed out on a Skinner miss, cut across the court for the rebound and took it coast-to-coast. Later, she had a spectacular chase-down block called a foul.

“She does some things that you’re like, she did the thing, and the next thing,” Bolt said. “We feed off of her.”

Skinner had scored 25 points in Hinsdale Central’s regional final upset of Kenwood. But Thulin held her to 1-for-6 shooting.

“Just do what we’ve been doing all season. Our No. 1 rule is not to get beat off the first bounce,” Thulin said. “That is something that really mattered. She’s a really good player, but our team defense is something that takes a lot to beat.”

Hinsdale Central coach Brett Moore knows it.

His team was within 16-13 a minute before half, but went scoreless for the next 5:19. An Eva Yerkovich 3-pointer extended the Trojans’ lead to 24-13.

“We know they’re probably the best half-court man-to-man defensive team,” Moore said. “We had to try some new things, thought we got them spread out. Fourth time we’ve seen them, we’ve never been able to match that one big run.”

Giannini, a senior guard, was tremendous in defeat, with 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting and several tough drives in traffic.

It was Hinsdale Central’s first sectional appearance since 2015.

“She was a monster tonight,” Moore said. “She was a defense-only person last year, and she really came in as a scorer. Her not giving up has been huge for us.”

In the first game, Nazareth led by just six, 32-26, a minute into the fourth quarter, but broke its game with St. Ignatius open with a 13-0 run from there.

Mia Gage scored 13 points, Sophia Towne had 11 points, nine steals and seven rebounds, and Lyla Shelton scored 11 for Nazareth.

“I was just telling the girls Ignatius plays such a methodical style that to win by 18 against Ignatius is a 30-point win. It’s a grind,” Nazareth coach Eddie Stritzel said. “We shot 14% from 3, and we usually don’t shoot like that.”

Towne, Nazareth’s junior point guard, was 0 for 6 from the 3-point line.

But she was spectacular at the head of a Nazareth defense that forced 23 turnovers. Towne had a steal, score and three-point play and fed Gage for a basket after another steal during the 13-0 run.

“Nine steals,” Stritzel said. “And she’s mad at herself, she thinks she didn’t play good because she didn’t shoot good. She’s the backbone of our team.”

Samantha Austin had a key 3-pointer during the run, and Nazareth held St. Ignatius to just one field goal and five fourth-quarter points to win going away while BYU commit Stella Sakalas scored just four points.

“Defensively we switched to a 3-2, which helped a lot and made us more aggressive,” Towne said. “We got a lot of deflections and steals. My shot wasn’t falling, obviously, but I’m just happy we won.”