Dundee-Crown can't come back vs. Johnsburg

After surrendering a 20-point first quarter to Johnsburg, Dundee-Crown could never recover.

Trailing 20-9 after 8 minutes, the Chargers' girls basketball team kept fighting back but could never get ahead or even. Seven times in the second half they got within 3 points, but the Skyhawks always had an answer, and were able to hold on for a 61-55 win in pool play of the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic at Woodstock High School Friday.

Paige Gieseke had 18 points and 10 rebounds for D-C (4-8). Melissa Barker scored 18 points, all on 3-pointers, and Madilyn Tripp added 13 points for the Chargers.

"In the second quarter we actually played even with them, but starting off giving up 20 points in a quarter is a tough start," said Chargers' coach Sarah Miller. "With that happening, we had to battle back the whole time.

"I thought they did a good job of pressuring us and we shied away in the first half. In the second half, we really cut against the zone."

Trailing 58-55, the Chargers had 3 chances to tie or get within 1 but couldn't convert. They missed 2 shots in close. Tripp made a steal, but the Chargers gave it right back.

Earlier, the Chargers trailed 50-48. Gieseke rebounded a Johnsburg miss, but D-C turned it over, and Aannah Interrante nailed a 3-pointer for Johnsburg.

"We kept coming close," said Miller. "We needed to have a score and then a stop and then a score consistently, and it seemed like we kept trading buckets the whole second half."

Interrante finished with 18 points for the Skyhawks. Jazza Johns and Kayla Stefka added 12 apiece.

The Chargers led 6-2 early on a pair of Barker 3-pointers, but Johnsburg rattled off 12 straight points to go ahead for good. Interrante and Stefka started and ended the run with 3-pointers.

The Chargers began to chip away in the second quarter, getting as close as 4 on a Barker bomb before settling for a 33-27 halftime deficit.