Dundee-Crown's fast start does in Elgin
After No. 3 seed Dundee-Crown opened up with 5 three-pointers and outscored No. 6 Elgin by 22 points in the first quarter of the Chargers' 58-30 Class 4A Jacobs regional win Monday night, Elgin coach Dr. Nick Bumbales perfectly summed up how the Chargers advanced to Tuesday's regional semifinal against No. 2 Streamwood.
"They got off to a big lead right out of the box and that was really the game right there," Bumbales said of D-C's 24-2 first quarter and his team's 11th-straight loss. "Everything was a rifle shot and a Bull's-eye."
The Chargers (9-21) indeed had the ammo Monday night. Melissa Barker led the Chargers with 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting and 3 three-pointers, two of which came in the first 8 minutes when D-C went 3-point bananas, going 5 of 7 from downtown. Included in the fray were 2 threes by Francesca Scarpelli (9 points) and one from Lauren Lococo. Bridging the second quarter, Dundee-Crown nailed 6 of its first 9 from the arc and shot 47 percent in the first quarter while racing out to a 9-0 lead. Dundee-Crown blitzed the Elgin zone and never looked back as its lead reached its pinnacle at 36 twice in the second half.
"We had plays to screen on the outside of the zone to get me open and it was just working," Barker said. "We had to come more focused and ready to play in order to win."
Dundee-Crown also dominated the boards, winning the battle 43-26 while holding the Maroons to 8 of 51 shooting. Lococo had 8 rebounds and Jesania Laboy had 9 rebounds. The Chargers also scored 12 second-chance points, 9 coming in the first quarter as they hauled in 14 offensive rebounds and scored 16 points in the paint.
"We talked about coming out and making a statement and just being ready to go," D-C coach Sarah Miller said. "It helped that our shots were falling, of course. We came out ready; feet were set and did a good job of putting the shots in the first half. I thought our defense was really good."
Elgin's Melanie Berg led the way for the Maroons with 12 points. Dundee-Crown had 5 players chip in with at least 6 or more points.