Fast start propels Dundee-Crown

The Dundee-Crown boys basketball team started out fast Wednesday afternoon and cruised the rest of the way.

The Chargers scored the first 17 points, led by as many as 27 and went on to defeat Chicago Michele Clark, 68-48, in the first round of the 38th annual Elgin Holiday Tournament.

“We definitely wanted to come out and get right at it,” said D-C senior Dylan Kissack, who scored 8 points during the opening 17-0 run. “Having the break, we wanted to make sure we came out with good intensity and got up early. That was our main goal.”

D-C (8-1), which will play Elgin at 6:45 p.m. today in the quarterfinals, led 19-4 after the first quarter. The Eagles missed their first 5 shots and turned the ball over 5 times before a Jacob Rodriguez basket ended the Chargers’ opening run.

The Chargers went 9-of-13 from the floor in the second quarter and increased their led to 40-14 at halftime. Brandon Rodriguez, who came off the bench, scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the quarter.

“We got a good start and won the game,” D-C coach Lance Huber said. “I thought our guys played well enough to win. I don’t think it was one of our better games. We’ll take it and hopefully we can play a little better (today).” Trent Muscat’s basket with 6:56 remaining in the third quarter gave D-C its largest lead, 43-16.

Clark got the deficit down to 20, 53-33, heading into the fourth quarter thanks to 12 points in the third from Keyvon Williams. The Chargers’ lead never fell below 17 in the fourth quarter.

“We really worked as a team today,” said Muscat, who finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds. “I had a lot of easy layups, that kind of transitioned from the defensive end. I think a lot of the baskets we had came from the defensive side of the ball.”

Kissack finished with 19 points and 5 rebounds. Brandon Rodriguez added 12 points. J.T. Beasley and Cordero Parson each had 7.

Williams led the Eagles with 18 points off the bench. Kris Claybon had 10 points.