Bernhard's 32 ignite Dundee-Crown win over Aurora Christian
Dundee-Crown lost its season opener to Hampshire on Tuesday night, and guard Sean Bernhard - the only senior on the roster - heard an earful from coach Lance Huber during a film session the next day.
"I just took in all that he said," Bernhard said. "I took it not as him yelling at me but as criticism, and I tried to improve on all the points he told me to improve on. I learned from it."
If all film sessions prove to be so beneficial, the Dundee-Crown players should expect to sit through double features on a daily basis because Bernhard improved on Tuesday's 2-point outing by leaps and bounds Friday. The 6-footer scored 32 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including three 3-pointers, to lead the Chargers to a 73-69 victory over Aurora Christian in a consolation bracket semifinal at the Leland Strombom Holiday Tournament at Sycamore.
"Bernhard definitely shot the ball well today," Huber said. "He took a lot of heat in that (film) session being the only guy back. His performance in the first game wasn't indicative of what he could do. We really got on him and, to his credit, he responded, made some adjustments in his game and reaped the rewards."
"(Bernhard) played a great game," Aurora Christian coach Steve Hanson said. "He was under control and we just had a hard time."
A game that featured 12 lead changes was close throughout. The Chargers broke free of a tie at 66 with a scoop layup by guard Kevin Cronin, followed by a Bernhard jumper from the free-throw line with 1:16 to play.
Aurora Christian (0-2) pulled within a point on CJ Schutt's 3-pointer with 1:05 left, but D-C forward Ryan Smith (14 points) was fouled in the paint and sank 2 free throws to extend the lead to 72-69 with 44 seconds remaining.
The Eagles had a shot to tie it with 30 seconds to play, but a 3-pointer rimmed out. They regained possession after 2 missed free throws but missed a one-handed runner in the lane. The ball went out of bounds with 14.4 seconds left and D-C inbounded to Cronin, who split a pair from the line with 10.5 seconds on the clock for the final margin.
"It seemed like we got a couple of good looks with guys we want shooting the ball, but it just didn't go down," Hanson said. "It looked like we were a little tired and maybe not quite where we want to be physical conditioning wise. We executed and we did what we were supposed to do, but the shots just didn't go."
The win was the first of the season for Dundee-Crown (1-1), which will face Hope (1-1) for the consolation championship today at 2:30 p.m.
"I thought we made significant strides from Game 1 to Game 2," Huber said. "We still have a lot to work on, but when it mattered we were able to get a couple of stops and pull one out."
Senior Salomon Kabongo-Kooper led the Eagles with 17 points and 8 rebounds while Josh Haugen and Ryan Suttle each finished with 15 points. Kyle Bernhard scored 12 points for the Chargers.