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Dundee-Crown knocks off Burlington Central in OT for Strombom title

Dundee-Crown rallied from a 14-point deficit in the last three minutes of the Strombom Holiday Tournament championship game Saturday night in Sycamore to tie the contest with seconds left on the clock on Zach Ryza's putback basket.

The Chargers then outscored Burlington Central 10-8 in overtime to win the game 56-54 and take home the first-place trophy.

D-C trailed in overtime, 51-49, when Jason Huber hit a 3-pointer. Burlington Central turned the ball over and Huber was fouled and made a pair of free throws.

Central came back to tie with a free throw and a steal and a basket before Gabe Rivera's layup provided the final margin.

The Rockets led, 44-39, with 3:11 remaining in regulation when Huber, who led all players with 27 points, and Ryza took over.

Huber started the comeback with a basket from the top of the key. Ryza followed with his first basket of the night to narrow the Rockets' lead to 44-34 with 1:36 left to play. Huber then sank two 3-pointers on the Chargers' next two trips down the court. In between the treys, the Rockets only managed a free throw.

A Huber free throw with less than 30 seconds on the clock pulled the Chargers to within 46-41. The senior sank another 3-pointer to narrow the margin to 46-44. With five seconds left, to play Huber launched another basket from beyond the arc. The ball missed the net, but Ryza grabbed the rebound and made the put back for the 46-46 tie.

Central retook the lead in the extra period on an Andrew Scharnowski free throw. A Rivera 3-pointer returned the lead to D-C, 49-47. Central's Gavin Sarvis, who scored 18 points, tied the game with a layup and the Rockets retook the lead 51-49 on a basket by Nick Carpenter bucket, who scored 13 points.

Huber's hot streak continued, and his final trey of the night put his team up 52-51 with 2:16 left in the extra period. The shot was the difference maker as Central scored only three more points to the Chargers' four during the rest of the period.

In the early going, it looked like it would be the Rockets' night.

Central (2-1) jumped out to a 17-3 lead after the first quarter. The Chargers (3-0) went scoreless for the first four minutes of the game. Kennon Cook's free throw at the 3:18 market finally erased the Chargers' zero from the score board. Cook finished the night with nine points and 11 rebounds.

Huber scored the Chargers' first basket of the night three minutes into the second quarter on his first 3-pointer.

The two teams played evenly in the second and third quarters. The Rockets maintained their 14- point led both at halftime, 27-13, and at the end of the third quarter, 38-24.

The Chargers won their fifth Strombom tournament since 2005. D-C last won it in 2018. The Rockets were the tournament's defending champions, having won it in 2019. The tournament was not played last year due to the pandemic.

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