Dundee-Crown, Jacobs to meet for regional title
The girls basketball players from Dundee-Crown and Jacobs were just starting to play the game the last time the Chargers and Golden Eagles played for a regional championship.
Thursday night, the District 300 rivals will meet for the Class 4A Elgin regional championship after top-seeded D-C beat No. 4 Larkin 65-57 and No. 3 Jacobs upended No. 2 Streamwood 56-47 in Tuesday's semifinals at Chesbrough Field House.
Thursday's 7 p.m. title game will be the first time since 2005 the Chargers and Golden Eagles have met for a regional title. That was the second straight year Jacobs beat D-C in a regional title game.
The Chargers, who beat the Eagles twice this season, will be seeking their first regional crown since 2003; Jacobs its first since 2008.
"It's great for our community that Jacobs and Dundee-Crown are playing for a regional championship," said Jacobs coach Joe Benoit. "(Dundee-Crown) Coach (Sarah) Miller has done a great job with that program. They're playing really good basketball right now and we're looking forward to the opportunity."
Dundee-Crown (16-15) was able to take over a close game with a third-quarter blitz then withstand a Larkin comeback in the opener Tuesday.
The Chargers turned a 31-28 halftime lead into as much as a 46-32 advantage in the third quarter and still led 60-49 with 3:23 left in the game after back-to-back baskets from senior Lauren Lococo when Larkin started chipping away. The Royals (7-23) got within 4 twice, 60-56 and 62-58, but Lococo made 3 of 4 from the free throw line in the final 29 seconds to seal the win for D-C.
"We definitely came together as a team and didn't let anything around us affect how we were going to finish the game," said Lococo, who scored 17 points and added 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
"We've worked our butts off and this has been one of our most successful seasons in a long time."
The Chargers were 22-for-46 (48 percent) shooting and despite 8 turnovers in the fourth quarter they were able to close out the win, putting them in a regional title game for the first time since that 2005 loss to Jacobs.
"Give credit to Larkin," said D-C coach Sarah Miller. "They really battled and I knew they would. We came together and really focused at the end. We hit some big free throws and the last few possessions we made good decisions and played smart. I felt when we calmed down and realized what we had to do to finish we executed real well."
Senior Jesania Laboy had a big game for the Chargers, scoring 19 points and pulling down 14 rebounds as D-C won the boards battle 41-29. Senior Creighton Fed added 13 points and 5 assists and junior Melissa Barker had 12 points, hitting four 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Sophomore Marlee Kyles led Larkin with a game-high 28 points and senior Quixmia Washington added 14.
"The third quarter caught us and that's been a pivotal quarter for us all year," said Larkin coach Ruben Flores. "Credit to Dundee-Crown. They held it together. Our girls fought to the very end and they can hold their heads high. It was just too little too late.
"Marlee played her (butt) off and Quixmia is a senior and will be missed."
Jacobs 56, Streamwood 47: The Golden Eagles (12-15) went on an 11-2 run to start the second quarter, breaking out to a 23-9 lead, and never looked back in setting up Thursday's D300 battle for the title.
Even though the Sabres (10-18) were able to cut the lead to 7, 25-18, by halftime, Jacobs bolted ahead by as many as 19 points twice in a third quarter that saw senior Jenny Barnec go off for 13 of her 15 points. She was 5-for-5 shooting in the quarter, including one 3-pointer, in helping the Eagles go 22 of 46 (48 percent) for the game.
"That's a four-year varsity starter who understands the situation and the moment and she came to play today," said Benoit of Barnec, who also had 8 rebounds. "She was big on the offensive end but also huge on defense and on the boards."
Streamwood did close the gap to 5, 49-44, on a putback by freshman Tamia Brown with 2:31 to play but junior Teaghan Richman hit a shot and sophomore Carly Sidor (16 points) made 4 of 4 from the free throw line in the final 25 seconds to finish things for Jacobs.
"It was definitely the adrenaline hitting me but I couldn't have done it without my teammates," said Barnec of her third quarter. "They gave me great passes and set great screens. We came out really strong in that quarter and just didn't want our season to end."
Sophomore Jenejha Williams led Streamwood with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Seniors Cayla Hawkins and Kiana Jeremiah added 13 and 9 points respectively.
"The game was decided by the start," said Streamwood coach George Rosner. "They played very very well and we did not. We expected a better start. I thought we had a good shot when we cut it to 5 and had the momentum but we played poor defense and we did not rebound,"