D-C, Burlington win their openers

It wasn't exactly the play that Dundee-Crown boys basketball coach Lance Huber drew up from the bench, but it worked like a charm.

Playing in his first varsity game, junior guard Greg McNally's clutch 3-pointer from the top of the key with 21 seconds remaining helped propel the Chargers (1-0) to a 46-44 victory over Kaneland (0-1) in Tuesday night's opening round of the Leland G. Strombom basketball tournament in Sycamore.

"It was actually designed for Justin (Strzelczyk)," Huber said of McNally's game-winning shot. "But Greg is that type of individual. He's not afraid of a challenge."

For McNally, whose only other field goal of the game was a 3-pointer in the second quarter, the game-winning shot was the thrill of a lifetime.

"I'm so excited -- you have no idea," said McNally. "I've had them (game-winning shots) before, but this is the biggest one for sure because this is the big-time. It's my first varsity game."

Dundee-Crown, which held just four leads the entire way, trailed by as many as 5 points at 38-33 with 5:51 left in regulation.

But the Chargers received additional marksmanship from junior guard Justin Strzelczyk, who buried a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers -- the latter coming from the corner to put Dundee-Crown on top 42-40 with 2:10 left.

Strzelczyk and Michael Hughes scored 10 points apiece for the Chargers, while Jeff Beck added 8 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.

"We played pretty good defense in the second half," said Huber, "and we hit some timely shots.

"Fortunate would be a good way to describe it. I thought we'd rebound a little better than we did, but I thought we got a lot of good looks against their zone (defense)."

Kaneland, which graduated its entire starting lineup from a year ago, led 15-10 after one quarter and 26-23 at halftime, and carried a 36-31 advantage into the final quarter.

But the Knights managed to score just 4 points over the final 5 minutes.

"We had the lead until the last shot," said Knights coach Dennis Hansen. "But we broke down a little bit defensively in the last minute and a half and had trouble putting the ball in the hole."

Sophomore center Dave Dudzinski paced the Knights with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals, while Kevin Green and Nate Peters added 8 points each.

"Overall, I was pleased with the effort," said Hansen. "We're young and hopefully we learn from it. We'll bounce back and move on."

Burlington Central 72, Harlem 63: Breaking down the defense almost at will, Burlington Central's Mike McCurdy put on a dazzling offensive show Tuesday night.

While the team's leading scorer from a year ago, Cully Payne, since transferred to Schaumburg, McCurdy stepped right in and took over, pouring in a career-high 34 points to lift the Rockets (1-0) to a 72-63 triumph over Harlem in the first round of the Leland G. Strombom basketball tournament in Sycamore.

McCurdy, a 6-foot senior, netted 10 of his game-high points in the fourth quarter while helping the Rockets put away the Huskies (0-1).

"He has taken advantage of the opportunity that's been given to him," said Rockets coach Chris Payne. "He's our go-to guy. He kind of put us on his back and carried us through."

McCurdy's ability to slice his way to the basket was evidenced by his final numbers that included 12-of-15 marksmanship from the free-throw line.

"My shot wasn't falling at first so I just tried to get to the basket," said McCurdy, who admittedly was nervous prior to tipoff.

"It's a little bit of pressure knowing everything kind of runs through me. But my teammates stepped up and played well, too."

Burlington Central, which led by as many as 14 points in the first half, saw its 9-point halftime advantage (37-28) vanish completely early in the fourth quarter. A steal and layup by 6-6 forward Ryan Shelton (14 points, 19 rebounds) game Harlem its first lead of the night at 51-50 in the opening seconds of the final stanza.

But it turned out to be the Huskies' only lead of the game, as senior forward Jason Wagner (20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals) buried a 3-pointer moments later to put the Rockets on top 53-51.

A minute later, Wagner capped a 9-0 run with another 3-pointer to give the Rockets some breathing room at 59-51 with 6:11 remaining.

"We ran the pick and roll and Jason hit some big shots," McCurdy said of Wagner.

"Jason hit a lot of big shots for us last year, too," said Payne, whose team plays Dundee-Crown at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.

"When Harlem got the lead, Jason and Michael were the ones that helped get us through it."

Shane Larkin and Matt McCurdy added 7 points apiece for the Rockets, who will take on Dundee-Crown (1-0) in Friday night's semifinal contest.