Another easy with for Hampshire (12-0) at Harlem

MACHESNEY PARK - Hampshire's big first quarter set the tone for another easy win. The Whip-Purs led 21-7 after 8 minutes and cruised to a 54-24 win against Winnebago in the Harlem Christmas Classic girls basketball tournament.

Alex Dumoulin led the early surge with 8 points in the first quarter. She finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Jessica Van Dorin continued her torrid shooting from the 3-point arc. She made 4 more to finish with 12 points and now has 13 3-pointers in the tournament.

Cassie Dumoulin added 10 points and Chrissy Heine 9 for Hampshire.

Emily Myers scored 8 points for Winnebago.

After the high-scoring first quarter, the Indians' scrappy defense kept the Whip-Purs (12-0) from pulling away. The start of the second half was particularly ragged, with the teams turning it over on their first 6 possessions. But after a Winnebago bucket, the Whips reeled off 9 straight points to lead 43-19.

"We were trying to minimize the bad spurts," said Hampshire coach Sue Ellett. "I didn't think we came out of that locker room very well and turned it over too much there. But we took a little timeout and straightened out things we wanted to do, refocused a little bit, and got back to business."

The Whips were able to neutralize the Indians' defense with their transition game.

"When we were able to get out and run, we were able to put some points up on the board in stretches," Ellett said.

Alex Dumoulin scored the game's first 6 points with a putback and a couple of layups. After Winnebago got on the board, Hampshire ran the lead to 12-2 on back-to-back scores by Heine. Consecutive 3-pointers by Van Dorin made it 21-6 late in the period. The Whips eventually stretched the lead to 28-7.

Hampshire outrebounded Winnebago 28-22 and forced 25 turnovers.

The Whips will play for the tournament championship at 1:30 p.m. today.