Dundee-Crown nabs Charger Classic win
The Charger Classic monkey came off Dundee-Crown's back Wednesday in a big way.
The Chargers' girls basketball team raced out to a 10-1 lead in the first 4 minutes of the game and never looked back in defeating Regina Dominican 57-33 in the third round of the 28th annual tournament at Dundee-Crown.
The win is the first in the Charger Classic for the host school since 2006 and the first in the tournament for Chargers coach Michelle Russell, now in her third season at the D-C helm.
“We came to play today and it feels good to break that curse,” said Russell, a former Charger standout who was an all-tournament choice three times as a player in the Charger Classic.
“We've been telling the girls all season when they put it together and play like they can good things will happen. Hopefully they're starting to see that.”
Junior Ali Sanders led the Chargers with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 7 steals.
“We came out ready today,” Sanders said. “We've had a hard time starting games but we got ahead 10-1 today. We really wanted to get (Russell's) first win in the tournament. It feels good.”
Junior Carlin Faulkner added 12 points for the Chargers (5-10), while Russell lauded the play of 5-foot-10 junior Diamond Williams, who had 13 points and 18 rebounds.
“Diamond Williams played very well today,” Russell said. “That was a big key for us.”
D-C led 15-8 after one quarter and widened the gap to 37-19 by halftime.
The Chargers shot 22-for-51 from the field and had a monstrous 38-15 advantage on the boards. They also played stellar defense, specifically on Regina's top player, Vanessa Kieres. She led the Panthers with 11 points but Russell was more than pleased with the way her team contained Kieres.
“She was our focus,” Russell said. “We wanted to shut her down. The girls stepped up to the challenge and played good defense. And we got some shots to fall today and that made it a different story.”
The Chargers will conclude tournament play Thursday with an 11 a.m. game against Johnsburg.