Dundee-Crown clicks in win over Hampshire

Mired in a funk with 8 losses in the last 9 games it appeared the Dundee-Crown boys basketball season was headed south going into Friday night's action.

However, the Chargers took the first step in trying to turn things around in the right by direction by beating visiting Hampshire 63-45 in a Fox Valley Conference meeting.

The Chargers were led by Jack Orndahl and Jordan Hairston, who each had 15 points. Damarion Butler added 14 points.

"Anytime you can get a win it's a good feeling especially the way things have been going for us lately," D-C coach Lance Huber said. "This is a tough group to figure out. We play really good in stretches, but we just haven't been doing that enough. I liked what I saw tonight, though. We came out very energetic and played well defensively. That's what we need to do every game."

Hairston and Butler helped spearhead the defense with 4 steals each.

"It was a lot of the little things that got it done on defense," Hairston. "Things like being in the gaps, staying down on the head fakes, and taking a charge. We were able to get a lot of defensive stops and turnovers doing those little things."

The Chargers forced 23 turnovers, including 16 in the first half.

D-C (8-11, 5-5) scored 9 points in transition early off turnovers to build a 19-6 lead by early in the second quarter.

"Damarion and Jordan did a good job getting up on the ball and creating pressure," Huber said. "I also thought we did a much better job playing away from the ball. When somebody got beat on defense there was always someone there to help."

The Chargers saw their lead cut to 23-18 early in the third quarter only to respond with an 11-1 run to pull away to a 34-19 advantage. The Whip-Purs never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Orndahl started the second surge with a 3-pointer. He went on to score all 15 of his points in the second half, including another 3-pointer and a 3-point play. He was also 5 of 5 from the free throw line.

"I didn't score in the first half, so I just had to get my mind right at halftime," Orndahl said. "Once I made the first 3 that got me going. I think we started reverting back to how we were playing earlier in the season by playing really tough defense. That's what really made the difference tonight."

Collin Woods and J.D. Shaw each had 11 points for Hampshire (5-16, 1-8).

"It took us awhile to adjust to how much they were hedging on screens," Hampshire coach Ben Whitehouse said. "Then they have a lot of length inside and we were real hesitant to attack the rim. We were forced to the perimeter and weren't hitting our shots."