Cary-Grove tops Dundee-Crown for 4th straight win

It was just less than 2 months ago that Cary-Grove surrendered 70 points and lost by 21 points to Dundee-Crown.

It's obvious after Saturday night's outcome that this is not the same Cary-Grove girls basketball team. The Trojans' defense stifled the Chargers all night and sophomore Katherine Sowa poured in 19 points to lead C-G to its fourth straight win, 38-26 over host D-C in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action.

"We were a struggling team early in the season that was really trying to find itself," C-G coach Rod Saffert said. "Now the pieces are starting to come together. We've had some players come back from injury like Katherine Demert, who played great defense tonight on their top scorer Melissa Barker and others have stepped up like Katherine Sowa. We are finding the right combination and they are starting to believe in themselves."

It was a defensive battle from the beginning with both teams combining for just 9 points in the first quarter. The Trojans (8-15, 2-6) finally got something going offensively in the second quarter when Sowa hit back-to-back 3-pointers to help give C-G a 16 -6 lead.

"She's become one of our best players,' Saffert said of Sowa. "She works hard at her game. She's a kid that plays AAU ball. She's taken some huge steps forward and keeps getting better."

D-C (13-15, 4-4) climbed back into the game at the start of the second half with an 8-0 run to pull to within 18-17. Paige Gieseke, who had a team-high 11 points, scored a pair of baskets during the run.

The Chargers were still only down 27-25 with less than 5 minutes left to play, but the Trojans pulled away with an 11-1 run to close the game.

Sowa converted a clutch 3-point play down the stretch on a drive to the basket.

"We are pulling together as a team and starting to mesh," Sowa said. "Everybody is helping each other out and I just wanted to do my part to help us win."

C-G had only 8 baskets in the game, but consistently went hard to the basket and finished 19-of-21 from the free throw line. Sowa was a perfect 11-of-11, including 9 in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.'

D-C shot just 11-of-41 (27 percent) from the field.

"Give credit to Cary-Grove. They pushed us around and just outworked us tonight," D-C coach Sarah Miller said. "They spread us out on defense and attacked the basket and on offense we just couldn't find any kind of rhythm against them."