Big second half lifts Chargers over BC
Dundee-Crown's boys basketball team picked up the intensity in the second half and picked up its first win of the season as a result.
Twelve first-half turnovers and 8-of-25 shooting against Burlington Central's 2-3 zone defense left the Chargers in a 27-18 hole at halftime, But senior-dominated Dundee-Crown schooled the less-experienced Rockets 18-4 in the third quarter and took the lead for good on 5 straight fourth-quarter points from senior Jeff Beck to win 47-38 in the season opener for both teams at the Leland G. Strombom Holiday Tournament at Sycamore Tuesday night.
"The first half we didn't come out with any intensity and we were letting them be the aggressor," said Beck, who scored 9 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter. "We got yelled at a little bit at the half and we all talked on the court before the third quarter started to make sure everybody was ready to go. Then we had a couple of big plays that started the momentum going our way."
The first of those big plays was an alley-oop dunk from Beck to 6-foot-6 Charles Kimbrough (7 points, 6 rebounds).
D-C senior Marcus Henry (12 points) subsequently got hot, scoring 8 of the Chargers' next 9 points on a putback of an offensive rebound, a 15-foot jumpshot, a steal he took the distance for a layup and a transition drive to the basket that tied the game at 29 with 2:36 left in the third quarter.
"I thought Marcus played a great game," Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber said. "He just really got us going and made sure our other guys were into the game."
D-C kept the 18-2 run going with 7 more unanswered points: an inside bucket by Kimbrough, another alley-oop pass for a dunk from Beck - this time to Aaron Reams, who finished with 6 points and 11 rebounds - and a Beck 3-pointer.
"We did not handle the pressure when they picked it up at the start of the third quarter very well," Rockets coach Chris Payne said. "Once we settled into that we were fine, but then we got into missing layups and free throws. So those three things decided it tonight."
Junior forward Shane Larkin (team high 13 points) scored on a 10-foot jumper to close the gap to 36-31 at the end of third quarter, and the Rockets surged back into the lead once more in the fourth, thanks to a pair of Matt McCurdy baskets and 2 free throws from captain Mike Doty with 5;24 left in the game to cap an 8-0 run.
However, Beck slashed through the Central zone for a left-handed layup to reclaim the lead for D-C. He built the cushion to 4 points on the next possession by connecting on a wide-open 3-pointer, and the Chargers sealed the game by sinking all 6 of their free throw attempts down the stretch while holding the Rockets without a field goal for the final 7:21.
"They came out with a lot of intensity and I think they figured out how to attack the zone," said McCurdy, who had 12 points and 3 steals. "They're a good team with a lot of players back, so this is something to build on."