Dundee-Crown overcomes turnovers, tops Burlington Central
Sometimes good teams find a way to win without playing their best which is how Dundee-Crown coach Sarah Miller preferred to look at the Chargers' victory Thursday.
In a matchup of two Daily Herald Top 20 teams and two schools who will compete together in the Fox Valley Conference starting next year, No. 10 Dundee-Crown (10-3) got the better of No. 11 Burlington Central (10-3), 53-43.
The Chargers did that despite turning the ball over 28 times. Burlington Central, playing from behind from the second quarter on and playing short-handed from the first quarter on, never quit, using its full-court pressure to give the Chargers fits.
"It was just a sloppy game all around," Chargers junior Katelyn Skibinski said. "We usually don't have that many turnovers. We have to regroup for our next game and get our confidence back up."
Skibinski led three Chargers in double figures with 14 points. Alyssa Crenshaw scored 12 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, and Gianine Boade had 11 points and 6 boards. Kendall Kieltyka came off the bench with 6 points and 10 rebounds.
"A lot of my teammates helped get me open and the baseline drive was there," Skibinski said. "I saw it and took it and if it wasn't there I kicked it out."
The Chargers led by no fewer than 8 points in the second half. The outcome was never really in doubt, but Miller wasn't happy with the 8 turnovers in the third quarter or 7 in the fourth.
"Not truly satisfied," Miller said. "We will take the win but no one is satisfied with the performance at the end. We treat things as a process. It's not about the win, it's about doing things the right way for four quarters.
"We have seen that same type of pressure before. It's a situation where it got in our head, we weren't able to calm them down. But you grind it out. We found a way to finish it."
The Rockets got off to a quick 6-2 lead a little over a minute into the game when Kathryn Schmidt drove and scored while being fouled.
Unfortunately for Burlington, Schmidt took a hard fall on her knee. The junior left the game with a knee contusion and did not return.
To make matters worse, the team's second leading scorer, sophomore Elana Wells, picked up her third foul in the second quarter. She sat the rest of the first half as the Rockets watched a 16-14 lead at the time turn into a 25-16 halftime deficit as the Chargers closed the first half on an 11-0 run that included points from four different players.
Wells returned in the third quarter and ended up leading all scorers with 16 points. Maddie Menke added 10 points but the Rockets never got closer than 40-32 when Wells drove for a basket after Menke's 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter.
"I thought we played hard to the end," Rockets coach Mark Smith said. "They are a good team. But I told the girls if we want to get to where we want to get to, you have to play those teams and beat them. Close doesn't count."
The Rockets hurt themselves by making just 11 of 31 free throws. They also were just 15 for 55 from the field while the Chargers were efficient sinking 20 of 34.
"A lot of breakdowns defensively," Smith said. "Not really typical of who we are and how we play. That hurt us."
Both teams return to action next week at their holiday tournaments. Burlington Central heads to Dixon while Dundee-Crown hosts its annual 16-team Charger Classic.
"It's another great year," Miller said. "We love having that tournament. State-ranked teams. Good basketball on a daily basis. We're really excited."