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Dundee-Crown nips Wauconda

Dundee-Crown finally made the last run. A late 11-2 spurt put the Chargers ahead in a back-and-forth game, and they held on to down Wauconda, 47-46, in the opening round of the Northern Illinois Girls Holiday Classic at Woodstock High School Friday night.

Emily Michalski had 14 points and 7 rebounds for D-C (2-8), but no other Charger reached double figures.

Lauren Nee scored 13 points for the Bulldogs (2-4), including 3 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Nee’s first two bombs capped a 13-0 run that put Wauconda ahead 41-36 with about 3 minutes left. The Chargers answered with 9 straight points to go up 44-41.

D-C built the advantage to 47-43, but Nee’s final 3-pointer got the Bulldogs within 1. Both teams missed opportunities from the free-throw line before Wauconda’s final shot at the buzzer missed everything.

Being in a tight game down the stretch wasn’t a new experience for the Chargers.

“It was just keeping our composure,” said Chargers’ coach Sarah Miller. “We practice those game situations in practice a lot, where the game’s tied, so the girls feel confident in those situations. When you look back, I think there’s a lot of things we could have done better but, bottom line, we didn’t get nervous in those situations.”

Kayla Lawrence scored all 6 of her points in the fourth quarter, while Jesania Laboy added 7 points and 5 boards for the Chargers.

Natalie Harding had 9 points as 11 Bulldogs played and 10 scored, but it was defense that really spurred Wauconda.

“We wanted to come out and put together a whole game,” said Wauconda coach Jaime Dennis. “And we did that. We had a few mental lapses, but we were much better than we have been in our previous five games. We’ve been working hard on our defense and our defense kind of spurred the offense tonight.”

Nee and Jackie Lung each grabbed 9 rebounds as Wauconda won the rebounding battle, 35-30.

Both teams play twice today, starting with Wauconda facing the host Blue Streaks at 9 a.m.

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