Free throw woes cost Dundee-Crown
Dundee-Crown boys basketball coach Lance Huber just needed to look at the free throw stat sheet to see why his Chargers dropped a 53-48 decision to Crystal Lake Central in Fox Valley Conference crossover action in Crystal Lake Wednesday.
Huber cringed when he saw the cold hard facts.
His Chargers connected on only 4 of 12 from the free-throw line, including going just 3-for-10 effort from the line in the pivotal fourth quarter.
"You are not going to win many games shooting free throws like we did tonight," said Huber, "If we make four or five more and shoot 50 percent from the line we probably are still playing in overtime."
Trailing 35-29 after 3 quarters, D-C sliced the Central (4-1) margin to 3, 35-32, on a long 3-pointer from Caleb Parson with 7:20 left in the game. The Chargers couldn't get any closer.
The host Tigers seized control of the game with a 6-0 run on two inside baskets by Jack Ortner and a 10-footer in the lane by Derek Olson to give the hosts a 9-point lead, 41-32, with 5:02 remaining.
Kiwi Seals broke an over 3-minute scoring drought for the Chargers with a spinning layup in the lane to cut the Tiger lead to 41-34 with 4:11 left in the contest.
Despite its fourth-quarter shooting woes from the free throw line, D-C (2-3) climbed to within 3, 46-43, on a 5-footer in the lane by Seals with 1:18 remaining.
The Tigers sealed the win by connecting on 7 of 10 from the line in the last minute. Jason Price made 5 of 6 and Ian Koch made both his charity tosses as the Tigers held on for a narrow 5-point win.
Central is adjusting to playing without senior standout Cavanaugh Murphy, who is probably out for the season with a wrist injury.
"We certainly miss Cavanaugh because he is an outstanding player," said Central coach Rich Czeslawski. "Everybody has to chip in a little more in his absence. I am proud of the kids. We had only three wins last year and we have four this year. This group plays hard. We just need to finish games better."
Seals led D-C with 21 points followed by Parson with 12 on 4 treys.
Price paced the Tigers with 19 points. He went 9 of 10 from the free-throw line. Ortner scored 14 points with 9 rebounds and Olson tallied 10 points.