Crystal Lake South 32, Dundee-Crown 30

For all the excitement Joe Komaromy-coached Dundee-Crown girls basketball teams have brought to the area over the years, it figured that Tuesday's Class 4A Prairie Ridge regional semifinal against Crystal Lake South would come to a heart-pumping ending.

And it did.

But with a chance to tie in the final 10 seconds, D-C was unable to get a shot off and fell to the Gators 32-30, bringing to a close Komaromy's splendid 26-year coaching career with a final record of 450-268.

Second-seeded Crystal Lake South (21-8) will take on top-seeded Cary-Grove (25-3) in Thursday's 7:30 p.m. regional title game. Cary-Grove, which has beaten South twice this season, downed McHenry 60-37 in Tuesday's first semifinal.

"We had the play all set and we had the shots," said Komaromy. "We just didn't execute."

After an early tie at 2-2, South went on a 10-0 run, holding the Chargers (11-16) scoreless for a 10:04 stretch. The result was a 12-2 lead early in the second quarter that D-C could never recover from. But boy did the Chargers try. Trailing 20-11 at halftime, they stormed back to make it a 27-23 game going into the fourth quarter. But suffering through a 10-of-50 shooting night, the only time D-C could close to within 2 was at the end.

"We knew they'd make a run at us," said South coach Kyle McCaughn. "They're too good of a team not to.

"This is my 14th year coaching girls basketball. I was lucky to come in under (former South coach) Bill Butkus and learn a lot. I've been fortunate to learn what kind of a coach Joe Komaromy is and how he teaches his kids the game. He does it the right way. I'm sorry he's done. He had a wonderful career and I wish him the best."

Komaromy chose to think about retirement later.

"It's tough," he said. "We really thought we had a chance to win this regional. We really did. I was more focused on this game tonight than all the other stuff. That will sink in down the line. I care more right now about our seniors. They worked hard and gave a lot to the program.

"To be down like we were tonight and to come back they way we did says a lot about the kids' character. They've worked hard all year and they're great kids."

Michelle Gaede and Caitlin Mize led South with 8 points each. Mize's basket and 2 free throws in the fourth quarter, including one with 32 seconds left, helped provide the final margin.

Senior Robyn Staudenmaier led D-C with 10 points. Her injury-shortened career ended just short of 900 points. Senior Kate-Leigh Pilson added 8 points and junior Melissa Summaria had 7 points off the bench for D-C, which also made just 7 of 14 free throw attempts in the game.