Dundee-Crown stymies South Elgin to win own tourney title
Dundee-Crown saved its best for last.
Scoring the final 7 points and holding South Elgin's high-powered offense scoreless for the final 4:27, the Chargers secured its first Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving tournament championship during coach Sarah Miller's 7-year tenure with a hard-fought 35-28 win over the Storm in Carpentersville Tuesday afternoon.
"One of our short term goals was to win this tournament," said Miller. "It is nice to win a championship. We are focused on one play at a time. We did the little things and found a way to win."
South Elgin's only points of the fourth quarter came on a 15-footer from Caroline Croft to tie the score at 28-28 with 4:27 left.
D-C's (4-0) 7 points came on 5 points from Gianine Boado, including a 3-pointer, and driving layup by Cassidy Randl.
During South Elgin's scoreless streak to end the game, the Storm (3-1) missed all 10 shots from the field and misfired 6 times from 3-point territory. South Elgin committed 4 costly turnovers.
"We missed some easy shots late in the game that really hurt us," said South Elgin coach Dan Mandernack. "This game played on a rainy Tuesday at 4 p.m. had a playoff atmosphere. D-C is our nonconference rival. We have had some great games with them. Give Dundee-Crown credit. They played outstanding defense. We went 3-1 in this tournament and we will learn from this game."
South Elgin, which trailed D-C 20-12 at halftime, outscored the Chargers 14-6 in the third quarter to tie the score at 26 after 24 minutes of play. In the third quarter, the Storm connected on 6-of-10 from the field for 60 percent and were 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Ari Williams scored 9 points in the quarter.
"We came out in the third quarter and played an unbelievable quarter," said Mandernack. "We are so small and really battled and gave great effort."
Williams led the Storm with 11 points and 3 assists.
South Elgin, guilty of 17 turnovers, connected on 12-of-40 from the floor for 30 percent and made only 3-of-15 from 3-point land for 20 percent. South Elgin made only 1-of-5 from the free-throw line for 20 percent.
"We need to do a better job of getting to the free-throw line," said Mandernack. "It is hard because we are so small but we need to do a better job of getting to the basket."
Alyssa Crenshaw, plagued with foul trouble, paced the Chargers with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists while Boado added 9 with a trey.
Senior Makayla Gotter, making her first career start, scored 6 points all in the third quarter to go along with 7 rebounds.
"I earned a starting spot in practice," said Gotter. "I played some as a junior but I am playing a bigger role this season. One of our goals was to win the Thanksgiving tournament. It means a lot. It is the first step for us this season."