Third-quarter spurt lifts Dundee-Crown past Hampshire
The Dundee-Crown boys basketball team scored 13 straight third quarter points to break open a tied game with Hampshire Saturday en route to a 67-47 Fox Valley Conference win.
The first half ended with the teams deadlocked at 30-30.
Charger Gabriel Bergerson started the second half the same way he started the first- with a basket. The senior's layup on a steal 30 seconds into the third quarter put D-C back on top 32-30. Bergerson led all scorers with 16 points.
The bucket started a 19-5 run that gave the Chargers a comfortable 14-point lead, 49-35, at the end of the period.
"We got some defensive stops and then we were making baskets on the other end," said D-C coach Lance Huber. "It wasn't sexy, but it got the job done."
"Rebounds clicked for us (in the second half), getting them off the glass, getting consecutive stops - we had nine that half," said D-C's Jordan Hairston. "We put a great defense on 32 (Nathan Cork) and we locked number 5 (Collin Woods) down and that kept us in the game."
Hairston scored 8 of his 13 points in the period.
"The first half wasn't working for me," Hairston said. "Third quarter Damarion (Butler) was giving good passes, the team started clicking and I just happened to be the main scorer that quarter."
Woods (14 points) finally put the host Whip-Purs on the board in the quarter with a layup at the 3-minute mark.
"We talked (at halftime) about coming out, winning the first 3 minutes of the second half and unfortunately Dundee won that," Hampshire coach Ben Whitehouse said. "Our lack of execution offensively affected how we were rotating and communicating on defense."
Accurate free throw shooting aided the Chargers' second half surge. D-C (4-1, 1-0) connected on 18 of 25 from the free throw line in the game. Jack Orndahl (14 points) was a perfect 8 for 8 from the charity stripe.
"We have been focusing on our free throws," Huber said. "We didn't shoot them very well over Thanksgiving so we put a little extra time on that and it was nice to see the ball go in."
The two teams played an even first half. D-C led 15-14 after the first period. Hampshire (2-3, 0-1) led 25-20 with 2:32 left in the half on a Justin Anderson bucket. The Chargers regained the lead 30-28 on a Jack Michalski put back. A Woods bucket just before the end of the half tied the game at 30-all.
JD Shaw added 9 points for Hampshire.