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Cary-Grove tops Dundee-Crown for 4th straight win

Cary-Grove's Emily Lukowski found a wide-open Lauren Passaglia under Dundee-Crown's basket in the final seconds Tuesday, and the Trojans finally could breathe a sigh of relief.

Passaglia's uncontested layup with 42 seconds remaining pushed C-G's lead - once 15 points after three quarters - to five and was the Trojans' only field goal in the final eight minutes.

Gianine Boado missed a long 3-pointer on the Chargers' ensuing possession, and the Trojans went on to celebrate a 40-35 victory in the teams' Fox Valley Conference game, their fourth win in a row.

For C-G's returning players, Tuesday's win was extra special after D-C ended the Trojans' season in the regional finals a year ago. C-G's four conference wins already are more than it had all of last season (three).

"It means a lot for the whole team," said Lukowski, who poured in a game-high 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds. "For me, since my freshman year, we've always been losing to them, and losing big. I think we're just on a revenge tour for all of the games we lost last year."

The Trojans (4-1, 4-1 FVC) got off to a quick start of their own offensively with 13 first-quarter points, while holding the Chargers to only 4-of-19 shooting in the first half, forcing 10 turnovers and building a 20-9 lead at the break.

Lukowski, a junior, scored 14 of her 21 points in the first half, while C-G's defense held D-C's top two scorers, Alyssa Crenshaw and Gianine Boado, to two points combined. Crenshaw was forced to the bench midway through the second quarter with three fouls and was held scoreless, and Boado made only one of eight shots.

Passaglia, who is averaging a near double-double this year, said she wanted to beat D-C as much for last year's seniors

"I think we were just being super aggressive," said Passaglia, who finished with eight points, six rebounds and three assists. "The end of the season last year was on everybody's mind. Playing for those seniors who graduated, we went out there wanting it so bad. We were excited. Lots of hugs, lots of high fives and lots of screaming. This was huge."

The Chargers (3-4, 2-3), last year's FVC champion, started the fourth quarter on an 8-1 run. A steal by Marrasia Harthrone led to the first of back-to-back layups from Boado, the second of which cut C-G's lead to 36-33.

After a timeout by the Trojans, Lukowski held on to the ball before finding Passaglia wide open for the easy bucket.

"Credit to Cary. I thought they came out with a game plan and executed, being difficult for Gianine and Alyssa to catch it," D-C coach Sarah Teipel said. "I just felt like we played team basketball in the fourth. We put the pressure on them a bit, made them work more for their shots and we attacked them and really tried to get more paint points. We're still learning to play together."

Boado had 16 points, including 14 in the second half, Kate Raby was second on D-C with seven points, and Harthrone tossed in six points and had two blocks. Crenshaw was held to only three points but grabbed 12 rebounds.

Maddie Scharrenberg added six points on a pair of 3s for the Trojans, and Kate Larry had three points and three steals.

Trojans coach Tony Moretti said Tuesday's win over D-C was a big stepping stone for the program.

"Dundee-Crown plays incredibly hard," Moretti said. "To beat them, it's big for us. We're trying to get our program to that next level. People can tell you whatever they want, but that's what they want to be. They want to be Dundee-Crown, and we want to be where they were last year."

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