Cary-Grove 47, Dundee-Crown 37
Starting fast and finishing strong.
That was Cary-Grove's motto Wednesday night.
Scoring only 13 points in the second and third quarters, the second-seeded Trojans tallied 34 points in the first and fourth quarters and defeated third-seeded Dundee-Crown 47-37 in a semifinal game of the Class 4A Crystal Lake South regional at Gator Alley.
"It is important to start the game strong and finish strong," said Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schueltze. "We come out in the first quarter and hit five 3s. In the fourth quarter, we made some shots at the end and hit some free throws."
The Trojans (18-10) advance to play top-seeded Jacobs (25-2) for the regional championship Friday night at 7:30 p.m. Jacobs has defeated Cary-Grove in all three of their matchups this season.
Cary-Grove came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter. Bombing in five 3-pointers, the Trojans held a 16-6 lead after 8 minutes. Paul and Mark Tometich had two 3s apiece and Ben Jacquier collected one as the Trojans had early control of the game.
In the second quarter, Dundee-Crown junior center Charles Kimbrough took the Trojans completely out of their offense. Kimbrough blocked 4 Trojan shots in the middle quarter and Cary-Grove managed only 2 points on 1-of-7 shooting.
While the Trojans managed only 2 points, the Chargers (12-14) climbed back in the game with 9 points and trailed only 18-15 at halftime.
"In the second quarter, Kimbrough was swatting everything away," said Schueltze. "Even when he wasn't blocking shots he was influencing shots. We were tentative."
The Chargers kept battling the Trojans and took their only lead of the game, 32-31, on a 12-footer by David Bernard with 5:22 left.
The Trojans countered with 6 straight points capped by a layup from Jacquier to give them a 37-32 lead with 3:31 left.
Cary-Grove clinched the win in the final minute as guard Pete Pellizari made 4-of-6 from the free throw line.
Mark Tometich scored 16 for the Trojans while Paul Tometich talled 14.
"It was a tough physical game," said Paul Tometich. "It was hard to get anything inside because Kimbrough was swatting everything away."
Said Mark Tometich. "We were strong down the stretch. We made some free throws at the end. It was a tough game. It was very physical."
Jeff Beck led Dundee-Crown with 16. Kimbrough scored only 2 points, but swatted away 8 shots and grabbed 9 rebounds.
"We just needed one more basket, one more stop, one more score," said Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber. "We just couldn't get over the hump. Give Cary-Grove credit. They beat us three times this season and found different ways to beat us each time."