Fast starts helps D-C finish off McHenry
Teamwork and hard-nosed defense aren't the most glamorous aspects of high school basketball.
However, Dundee-Crown had an abundance of both in a 60-49 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win over McHenry in Carpentersville Saturday night in the conference openers for both teams.
The Chargers (8-7, 1-0), who held McHenry (6-11, 0-1) without a field goal for the first six minutes of the game, limited the Warriors to 16-of-53 shooting (31 percent).
On the offensive side D-C converted 22-of-39 shots for 56 percent. In making 22 baskets, the Chargers dished out 16 assists.
"I thought we came out with a lot of energy on the defensive end," said Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber. "We did a good job of stopping the ball and made them take bad shots. I thought we shared the ball very well tonight and we are getting a lot better in that area. We are starting to trust each other."
The teamwork was evident early as the Chargers jumped out to a 12-2 lead. Making 6 of its first 9 shots for 66 percent, D-C dealt out 5 assists, 3 by Justin Strzelczyk and 2 from Jeff Beck. Five different Chargers scored during the run.
D-C, which led 38-21 at halftime, was led by 16 points from David Bernard, who was held scoreless in the second half.
"I got a lot of points because of great passing," said Bernard. "My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball. We are playing well right now as a team. We are improving in that area every game."
The Chargers' biggest lead of the second half was 50-26 after a layup by Beck with 1:36 left in the third quarter.
The Warriors put a scare into D-C in the fourth quarter, pulling to within 53-44 with 3:18 left on a 3-pointer by Pat Bellich. That would be as close as McHenry would get.
The Chargers responded with 7 straight points, all by Beck to win going away.
"It got a little close there in the fourth quarter," said Huber. "Give McHenry credit. They kept fighting. Jeff really came up with a big 3 and some big free throws."
Beck paced the Chargers with 17 points and 5 assists followed by Bernard. Greg McNally scored 7 points with 5 assists for the winners.
Bellich led McHenry with 15 and Jake Banwart scored 12.
Boys basketball
St. Edward 58, Immaculate Conception 41:ŒSub-zero temperatures outside didn't affect Josh Dix's jump shot inside.
The Green Wave junior was scorching hot, nailing six 3-point shots en route to his 26-point night in St. Edward's first Suburban Catholic Conference victory, a 58-41 win over the Knights of Immaculate Conception.
"I was feeling it last night and it carried over to today," said Dix.
Though Dix's prowess from long range was the deciding factor for the Green Wave (7-13, 1-9), the team found something coach Keith Chuipek has been looking for: defense.
"Finally, our defense played over to our offense." said Chuipek.
Holding teams to under 12 points per quarter is a goal Chuipek puts out to his players every night. And after the Knights (8-10, 4-6) took an early 15-13, first-quarter lead, Chuipek's wish came true.
The Wave's defense tightened, forcing the Knights to shoot 17 of 49 from the field. Most importantly the defense kept its end of the bargain by allowing less than 12 points per quarter the rest of the way.
"That's probably our best defensive game we've had all year," said Wave guard Brett Manning, who hit two 3-pointers in his 13 point night. "Holding them to 12 points a quarter was our goal and we succeeded."
Then the Wave's defense allowed the offense to ignite. St. Edward hit 11 3-point shots, accounting for 33 of its 58 points.
"If teams are going to let us take the 3-point shot, we're going to take them," said Chuipek.
Though they trailed throughout, the Knights snipped the deficit to 7 with 7:00 left in the fourth on Antonio Taylor's coast-to-coast layup. However, their tired legs couldn't keep up with the Wave, as Josh Dix' final 3-pointer pushed the Waves lead back into double digits with 2:45 remaining, darkening any hope for the Knights.
"We played a tough game with Driscoll last night, we had a discipline issue," Knights coach Darren Howard said. "We were short three guys who missed this game. We weren't able to go to our regular rotation. In the third and fourth, we were dragging."
The Knights were led by Matt Murdom, who tossed in 15 points and grabbed 10 boards.
-- Steve Nichols
Hampshire 53, North Boone 35: Hampshire's 53-35 defeat of North Boone wasn't as easy as it looked.
The Vikings made the Whip-Purs work for everything they got. In the end, though, the visitors from Poplar Grove couldn't match Hampshire's firepower in the Big Northern East affair at the Purple Palace.
North Boone had no one to match up with T.J. Burzak, who had 23 points and 13 rebounds, both game highs.
James Goebbert added 11 points and 9 boards, and Justin Bieber scored 9 points, all on 3-pointers, for Hampshire.
Leading 33-26 just after intermission, Hampshire scored 7 straight points, including 2 Burzak baskets sandwiched around a Bieber 3-pointer, to break the game open. The Whips never trailed by less than double digits after that.
Hampshire held the Vikings to 25-percent shooting and outrebounded them 38-25.
"I thought defensively we did an excellent job," said Hampshire coach Bob Barnett. "They hit a couple of threes that I didn't expect them to hit."
The Whip-Purs, 10-9 overall, won their seventh game in their last eight tries and won back-to-back home games for the first time in two seasons.
After the Vikings took their only lead at 5-4, Hampshire reeled off 7 straight points.
The Whips led 17-12 after one quarter before pushing the lead to 26-12 in the second period. Goebbert helped Hampshire get off to the fast start with 7 points and 6 rebounds in the first quarter.
Goebbert added 2 assists and even a block. Will Bush had 8 rebounds and 3 assists to go with 5 points.
Alex Beck kept North Boone in the game with 14 points and 8 rebounds, but no one else posted more than 7 points for the Vikings.
Hampshire eventually pushed the lead to 53-32 on a basket by Danny Pace. Kyle Ekstrom's 3-pointer accounted for the final margin.
-- Allen Oshinski
East Aurora 63, Larkin 46: Larkin's frustration continually mounted.
Every time the Royals would claw their way back into Saturday night's Upstate Eight Conference game against East Aurora, the Tomcats had an answer, usually in the forms of freshman Ryan Boatright or Andrew Dockery.
The duo combined for 11 points in the fourth quarter and helped East Aurora secure a 63-46 victory in Elgin.
"It wasn't just (Dockery)," said Larkin forward Cam Kinley, who finished with 11 points. "They would get steals and get him the ball."
After trailing 36-18 at halftime, Larkin (1-16, 0-6) brought the game to within 10 points four times in the second half. The final time came when Jeff Saurbaugh split a pair of free throws to make it a 46-36 game with 5:39 left.
Boatright (10 points, 3 steals, 3 assists) got fouled and sank both free throws to make it 48-36 the next trip down court. Jamar Shepard (5 steals, 3 assists) then grabbed a steal and kicked the ball to Dockery (13 points, 7 rebounds) who made it 50-36.
"That came from playing ball," said Boatright, who has verbally committed to play for Tim Floyd at Southern California. "When someone scores on you, you want to score on them."
Boatright had extended East Aurora's lead to 46-34 earlier in the period after taking the ball right to the heart of the Royals' defense. I
In the third quarter it was sophomore Tarnell Weathersby who established 10-point leads twice for East Aurora (12-7, 3-3). Larkin outscored the Tomcats 28-27 in the second half.
"That's three games in a row we beat a team in the second half," Larkin coach Larry Hight said. "I think this week in practice I'm going to simulate the second quarter of a game."
The simulation won't go like Saturday's second quarter.
Larkin jumped to a 7-2 advantage in the first quarter. East Aurora then lit the gym up, making 11 of 19 shots in the second period and scoring 26 points. The Tomcats went on a 20-1 run over the next 4:20. East Aurora finished the game shooting 50 percent from the floor.
Despite allowing 26 points in the second quarter, Larkin held East Aurora to just 8 points on 4-of-10 shooting in the third period. Larkin also outrebounded the Tomcats 11-3 in the period.
"We played them man-to-man (defense) most of the game," Hight said. "That was one of our best defensive efforts. To play man against that team the whole game and not get blown out of the gym -- that's impressive."
-- Matt Stacionis
Burlington Central 75, Harvard 51: With forward Jason Wagner sidelined due to an ankle injury, Mike McCurdy stepped up once again. The area's leading points producer scored a career-high 40 points to lead the Rockets (12-4, 5-0) to victory over the Hornets in the Big Northern Conference's Eastern Division. Shane Larkin sank 5 of 6 from the line and finished with 19 points. Matt McCurdy added 8 points for the Rockets.
Woodstock 66, CL South 54: Despite a 19-point showing from Eric Wilde, Crystal Lake South (10-6, 0-1) dropped this Fox Valley Conference Valley Division opener to Woodstock. Steven Rogers added 9 points in a losing effort.
Australian transfer student Ben Wetherbee, whose eligibility expires Tuesday when the second semester begins, scored 28 points in his final game for the Blue Streaks
Westminster Christian 65, Luther South 38: Westminster Christian (13-4, 4-1) continued its successful season in the Private School League with this 65-38 win over Luther South in Elgin. With a double-double, Joel Benson led the Warriors' attack, recording 24 points and 10 rebounds. Cory Hodge added 11 points, and Tyler Beachler contributed 10 points and 6 assists.