Hampshire tops Dundee-Crown to claim Komaromy consolation title
The Hampshire girls basketball team concluded a successful run Friday at the 35th Annual Komaromy Charger Classic at Dundee-Crown, one the Whip-Purs hope carries positively into 2018.
In a defensive struggle against District 300 sister school and tournament host Dundee-Crown, the Whip-Purs found just enough offense down the stretch to beat the Chargers 31-28 in the consolation championship game.
"To come out of here 3-1 as a 13th seed is a nice run for us and should give us confidence going back into the (Fox Valley) conference season," said Hampshire coach Mike Featherly, whose team will play next on Jan, 5 against FVC leader McHenry.
The Whip-Purs (8-9) and Chargers (10-6) had to battle for every point as each team played hard-nosed man-to-man defense all day.
Down the stretch, though, Hampshire sophomore Alyssa Cork was able to feed senior Lauren Herrmann for two game-defining backdoor layups that helped the Whips turn a 24-23 deficit into a 29-24 lead that D-C couldn't recover from.
Trailing 24-23 after D-C freshman Gianine Boado drove the lane for a layup with 4:42 left in the game, the Whips took the lead for good on 2 free throws from junior Ally Cermak at the 4:31 mark.
Then, after D-C failed to score, Cork found Herrmann for a baseline backdoor layup at 3:36, and the two connected again with 2:17 to play and Hampshire suddenly had a 29-24 lead - the biggest lead for either team since the Whip-Purs opened the game on a 7-0 run.
"We were just working the ball around and reversing it and playing together," explained Herrmann, who finished with 7 points.
"This is good for us and it will give us more confidence going into the rest of the season."
The Chargers did come back to make it a 29-28 game after baskets by Boado and senior Kennedy White but Cermak made 2 free throws with 29 seconds to go and D-C's 3-point attempt to tie at the buzzer fell short.
Hampshire scored the first 7 points of the game, 4 on free throws before Cermak (10 points) hit a 3-pointer with 1:29 left in the first quarter.
But with 39 seconds left in the period, White nailed a 3 that sent the Chargers on a 9-0 run. They led 11-9 at halftime before Hampshire came back to grab a 20-18 advantage after three quarters.
In all there were seven lead changes and the game was tied four times. Turnovers were minimal - Hampshire had 13 and D-C 7 - but the tough defenses were in large part responsible for the Whips going just 8 of 26 from the floor, although they were an efficient 6-for-9 in the second half. D-C shot 12 of 41 and won the rebounding battle 30-27.
"We're very similar teams," said Featherly. "The calling card for both teams is defense and today was just hard-nosed basketball - two teams getting after it. We'll get better at understanding what our defense gives us."
Cermak led the Whips with 10 points while freshman Kelby Bannerman had 9 points and 7 rebounds. Boado had 13 points and White pulled down 6 rebounds for the Chargers, who played without senior center Maddie Tripp who is out with a foot injury.
"I feel like this tournament helps us accept where we're at," said D-C coach Sarah Miller, whose team returns to action Jan. 5 against rival Jacobs. "We knew (Hampshire) would play us tough defensively but we gave them too many second chances. When it's a one-possession game you can't give up offensive boards. We shot six free throws to their 21 and a lot of those came off offensive rebounds. We also missed some wide open layups and little jumpers in front of the hoop.
"But credit to (the Whips). They played hard."