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Stec shakes off cold night to hit game-winner for Dundee-Crown

Brad Stec was battered but certainly not beaten.

Stec, who took an elbow to the nose in the third quarter and was bleeding profusely, made only 1 of his first 14 shots.

The 6-foot-6 senior center's 15th shot proved to be golden.

Snaring a perfect pass from guard Trayvon Hatcher, Stec buried a 5-footer in the lane with 2 seconds remaining to give Dundee-Crown an exhilarating 37-35 victory over Hampshire in a key Fox Valley Conference game in Carpentersville Friday night.

"My teammates were giving me great passes and I was getting good shots the whole night," said Stec. "It was a frustrating night. I knew I had to get back in the game after I took the elbow to the nose. I felt confident on that last shot. I felt like the game was in slow motion on that last shot. This was a great win against a very good team."

Stec, who scored only 4 points, enjoyed a great rebounding night with 16, 9 off the offensive glass.

"Trayvon delivered Brad a great pass and he shot the ball with a lot of confidence," said D-C coach Lance Huber. "Brad really rebounded the ball well all night but couldn't make a shot. Brad always does everything we ask him to do. I was glad to see him make the big shot."

Hampshire (11-7, 5-3), who was 4-of-22 from 3-point range for 18 percent, had the last shot of the game but Nick Erickson's 3-pointer fell short.

"That was as good a shot as we were going to get with such little time remaining," said Hampshire coach Ben Whitehouse. "We shot the ball a little better in the second half but didn't knock down enough shots. After a bad defensive performance against Huntley we played well at the defensive end tonight."

D-C (14-3, 6-2), which held FVC front-runner Crystal Lake Central to 32 points Tuesday night in a 39-32 win, limited Hampshire's high-octane offense to 35 points and 11 field goals.

"We played really good defense in both games this week against two very good offensive teams," said Huber. "Hampshire has scored in the 70s many games this season and they shoot the 3 very well. Our plan was to contest all their 3-point shots and we did a good job with that. We knew it would be a physical battle for 32 minutes."

Jack Michalski was the lone Charger in double digits with 10 points along with 8 rebounds.

Collin Woods, who was 3-of-12 from the field and 2-of-8 from 3-point range, led the Whip-Purs with 15 points.

Erickson, 2-of-8 from beyond the arc, added 9 points for Hampshire.

  Hampshire's Jeremy Rosa Jr takes a shot during varsity boys basketball at Carpentersville Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Hampshire's Jeremy Rosa Jr, right, and Collin Woods, center, oppose Dundee-Crown's Damarion Butler, left, during varsity boys basketball at Carpentersville Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Dundee-Crown's Trayvon Hatcher looks to pass. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Hampshire's Collin Woods soars to the hoop past Dundee-Crown's Brad Stec, right, during varsity boys basketball at Carpentersville Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Dundee-Crown's Justin Prusko moves to the hoop during varsity boys basketball against Hampshire at Carpentersville Friday night. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
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