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Sowa, Cary-Grove slip past Dundee-Crown for regional title

It was Cary-Grove's turn to win a girls basketball regional, but it didn't come easily.

Katie Sowa scored inside with 37 seconds left, then rebounded a Dundee-Crown miss at the buzzer as the Trojans won the Class 4A South Elgin regional, 33-32, over Dundee-Crown Thursday night.

The lead changed hands 4 times in the last 3 minutes, with Sowa hitting 2 baskets to put the Trojans ahead.

D-C's Kennedy White made 2 free throws with 1 minute left to give the Chargers their last lead, 32-31.

Sowa finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds for C-G (19-10).

C-G denied the Chargers their fourth straight regional title and won their first since 2013.

"I thought my freshman year we had (a regional title), then we lost to South," she said. "From that point on, our team has gotten stronger and stronger together. We became closer and it was finally time for us and we did it."

Cary-Grove, which will play undefeated Rockford Boylan Tuesday in the Dundee-Crown sectional, dominated the odd-numbered quarters, outscoring the Chargers (18-10) by a combined 22-6 in the first and third. The Chargers mostly controlled the even-numbered quarters, but the Trojans did just enough in the fourth to win it.

The Trojans raced out to a 9-0 lead, but D-C turned it around with a 15-2 run to go up at halftime. Cary-Grove returned the favor, outscoring the Chargers 11-2 in the third.

"We got it done," Sowa said. "People made great passes all night. We had trouble finishing, but we finally figured it out in the last two minutes. We got two good buckets and it was exciting.

"We were up by so much in the third quarter. Then in the fourth they started hitting shots. We were doing the same thing, they just figured it out."

Maddie Jannusch added 7 points and 7 boards for the Trojans. Abby Getka scored just 2 points, but contributed 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. She lost a couple of more assists on missed layups.

Freshman center Alyssa Crenshaw had 9 points and 10 rebounds for D-C. White and Katelyn Skibinksi added 7 points apiece for the Chargers, who played without injured center Maddie Tripp.

C-G coach Rod Saffert wasn't surprised that Sowa came up big in the biggest game of the season to date.

"Number 3 in school history for scoring and one of the best captains and leaders I've ever had," Saffert said of Sowa. "I told them at halftime, and she knew I was talking about her, 'this is the time in the game when big-time players have got to play big-time,' and she showed up and played hard for us."

A bucket by Elsa Larry put Cary-Grove ahead 28-20 early in the fourth quarter. But 3-pointers by White and Gianine Boado sandwiched around a pair of free throws by Crenshaw quickly pulled the Chargers even. A free throw by Jannusch put C-G ahead and the teams traded baskets until the end.

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