Burlington Central denied consolation title
The end result may not have been what the Burlington Central girls basketball team was shooting for, but the overall mission was most definitely accomplished.
Playing in the Charger Classic Christmas Tournament at Dundee-Crown for the first time, the Rockets battled but fell short Monday, losing the consolation championship game to 2012 tournament champion Maine South 44-38.
“Maine South is a good Class 4A school, a great program,” said BC coach Mark Smith, whose team went to the Class 3A Elite Eight last year. “Games like this are only going to help us down the stretch.”
As will the entire experience at the 31st annual tournament in Carpentersville. The Rockets finished 2-2, playing as the only Class 3A school in the 16-team field.
“We played better as we went along,” Smith said. “These are the kind of games we’ll have to win in February, the possession-by-possession grind it out gritty games.”
The Rockets (11-2) fell behind 8-0 Monday and didn’t score for the first 3 minutes, but then caught up quickly as sophomore Sam Cruz broke the ice then sophomores Sam Pryor and Shelby Holt hit 3-pointers to tie the score in a game that finished with nine lead changes.
Only once after the 8-8 tie did either team hold more than a 6-point lead. That came with 1:33 to play when Maine South senior Kelly Kons hit a 3-pointer, capping a 12-0 Hawks run that wiped out a 35-30 BC lead the Rockets had gained on a Holt 3 with 5:47 left on the clock.
“The last 3-4 minutes ... we were up 35-30 and we didn’t finish,” Smith said. “We went into our delay too early. Hopefully it’s a lesson learned. Our goal now is to finish those last four minutes.”
Holt led the Rockets, who were held to their season-low scoring total, with 12 points and Pryor added 11. Junior Alison Colby had another consistent game with 8 points and 10 rebounds despite early foul trouble.
“I’m really pleased with how we played,” Smith said. “Alison had a great game again. She was very aggressive on the boards again and if she keeps playing like that the rest of the way we’ll be OK.”
Neither team shot particularly well, BC hitting on just 15 of 43 (6 of 23 from 3-point range) and Maine South (10-9) making just 12 of 34. The Hawks, though, were 7-for-15 from 3-point range.
Kons led Maine South with 12 points. Sam Fagenholz and Hailey Schoneman added 11 each.
Bartlett 64, Resurrection 54: Elizabeth Arco had 17 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Hawks, who finished the tournament 2-2 and won Monday despite being outscored 28-16 in the fourth quarter. Kaitlin Brohan added 15 points and Ally Giampapa had 14 for Bartlett (9-7), which made 24 of 49 from the field, including 8 of 21 from 3-point range. Ashley Johnson added 9 points, all on 3-pointers, for the Hawks.
Buffalo Grove 61, Dundee-Crown 42: Emily Michalski had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Chargers (5-14), who finished the tournament 0-4.