Dundee-Crown nips Cary-Grove
Dundee-Crown absorbed Cary-Grove's best shot, got off the canvas and won the bout.
On Kayla Lawrence's free throw with 24 seconds left, the Chargers were able to eke out a 48-47 win over Cary-Grove in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division girls basketball action in Cary Wednesday night.
"We did a good job of keeping our composure at the end," said D-C coach Sarah Miller. "We made our free throws and came up with a good win. We have had a lot of close games lately and that helps."
The Chargers (10-13, 2-4), playing without starter Allison Michalski and key reserve Paige Gieseke, opened up a 30-20 early in the third quarter on a layup by Ashley Hrinowich.
The Trojans (8-11, 2-4), without the services of 4-year starting guard Katie Barker (out 2 weeks with a knee injury), battled back.
Whittling away at the Chargers' lead, Cary-Grove actually grabbed a 41-39 advantage on a 10-footer in the lane by Jen Pilut with 6:20 left.
The Trojans led 43-40 before Melissa Barker buried a long 3-pointer from the top of the circle to knot the score at 43 with 3:24 left.
Four free throws by Jesania Laboy gave D-C a 47-43 lead. But the Trojans roared back on 2 free throws by Karisa Wilczynski and a 12-footer from Abby Getka with 33 ticks left to tie the score at 47. Lawrence's free throw gave the Chargers the narrow 1-point win.
Creighton Fed, with 11 points in the second quarter including three 3-pointers, paced Dundee-Crown with 14 points.
"We knew Barker wasn't going to play but we still had the mindset it was going to be a tough game for four quarters," said Fed. 'This win was a good step in the right direction for us."
Melissa Barker came off the bench for D-C to hit 3 shots from beyond the arc in scoring 11 points.
"We want Melissa to shoot the ball when she comes in the game," said Miller. "She made some big 3s in the fourth quarter."
Laboy scored 8 points on 8-of-8 from the free throw line and grabbed 9 rebounds for the winners.
Katie Sowa and Candace Cunningham scored 12 points each for Cary-Grove (8-11, 2-4).
"We played basketball in the second half," said Cary-Grove coach Rod Saffert. "We didn't do that in the first half. We shot the ball better in the second half and guarded their 3-point shooters better."