Dundee-Crown topples Hampshire
Whether it be a driving layup, a 3-pointer from the left corner or a pullup 15-footer Jordan Hairston has many avenues to score.
All of them were on display Monday night as the Dundee-Crown junior forward poured in 22 points with a 3-pointer as No. 6 seed Dundee-Crown cruised by No. 11 Hampshire 63-47 in first round action of the Class 4A Dundee-Crown regional in Carpentersville.
"He is a very talented scorer who can score in so many ways," said Hampshire coach Ben Whitehouse. "He is a very tough matchup for us."
Hairston, 7-of-9 from the field, dished out 3 assists and grabbed 6 rebounds for the Chargers (16-11).
"My role is to provide defensive energy to the team and to push the ball up the court," said Hairston. "I hit some shots early and got in a good groove. It was good to start the tournament with a home win."
The Chargers advanced to the semifinals to play third-seeded St. Charles East Wednesday at 7 p.m.
"St. Charles East is an outstanding team who is highly motivated after losing in the first round last season," said D-C coach Lance Huber. "We will have our hands full. Like Jacobs, they are a physically strong team. We will have to play much better than we did tonight."
Led by 5 points from Jack Orndahl including a 3-pointer the Chargers got off to a 15-7 advantage after 1 quarter.
Dundee-Crown seized control of the game by starting the second quarter with a 10-0 run spearheaded by 3-pointers from Hairston, Orndahl and Josh Raby and led 25-7 with 4:08 left in the first half.
Hampshire's (5-24) first points of the second quarter came at the 3:46 mark on a 12-footer in the lane by Collin Woods to make the score 25-9.
Hairston's 3 at the buzzer gave the Chargers a 34-18 lead at intermission.
The Chargers' biggest lead was 57-36 after a 15-footer by Orndahl with 2:18 left in the game.
Orndahl backed Hairston with 14 points.
"We played defense early and got off to a good start," said Huber. "We made some shots and got some hoops around the basket. It was good way to start the tournament."
Nathan Cork, with four 3-pointers and 14 points in the fourth quarter, paced the Whip-Purs with 21 points while Woods scored 10.
"A lot of teams would have mailed this one in because we got so far behind," said Whitehouse. "These kids never quit and competed for 32 minutes. They really fought and I am very proud of this group. It was a tough season and they understand it is a process. Dundee-Crown is very quick and really shot the ball well."