Hampshire wins in Haugens' debut
The Hampshire girls basketball team rode new coach Ed Haugens' trademark matchup zone defense to a 55-39 victory in Big Northern Conference crossover action in Byron Tuesday.
After Hampshire allowed 19 points in the second quarter and finished the first half tied, 24-24, the Whip-Purs held Byron to 3 points in the third quarter while playing a matchup zone. Meanwhile, the Whips scored 19 points of their own to forge a 43-27 lead through three quarters.
“It was nice to start the year off with a win,” said Haugens, who spent the last seven seasons coaching girls basketball at Jacobs. “There are definitely some things we have to work on. Our ballhandling has to get better.
“But I have to give our girls credit because their effort was fantastic tonight. To start off the year, I'm happy with what we're starting with and know that we can only get better from here.”
Senior Karla Vietinghoff led Hampshire with 19 points, a performance that included 7-of-9 shooting from the free-throw line and a pair of 3-pointers. Alex Dumoulin scored 16 points, including an 8-of-11 showing from the free-throw line.
Jess Van Dorin scored 9 points for Hampshire on three 3-pointers.
Hampshire bolted to a 10-5 lead after a quarter, but the Tigers outscored the Whips 19-14 in the second.
“I think what killed us is in the second quarter was that we got little tired, a little run down,” Haugens said. “I think that was just learning to get our legs for the season. The girls got their second wind in the second half and did a nice job.”
As for getting the first win under his belt with his new program, Haugens said, “I'm happy now that the game is over. I can go home and relax.”
Grayslake Central 78, Jacobs 32: The inexperienced Golden Eagles fell behind early and were never able to catch the Rams in a Fox Valley Conference crossover in Algonquin, spoiling the debut of new coach Keith Chuipek.
“It's good to be back at Jacobs after being gone for so long,” said Chuipek, a former Jacobs boys assistant coach who spent the last four seasons as head coach of the St. Edward boys program. “I've got a really young team. We're starting over, and we played a very good team in Grayslake Central that will probably have 20-plus in the win column this year. They're a nice group, solid all the way down.”
Led by Rebekah Llorens (14 points) and Kat Dickson (10), the Rams jumped to leads of 17-8 after a quarter and 40-14 at halftime.
“Our inexperience really showed,” Chuipek said. “We had 32 turnovers.”
Melanie Schwerdtmann and Jessica Tennant scored 12 points apiece to lead the Golden Eagles. Each splashed a pair of 3-pointers.
Defensively, Jacobs struggled in its adjustment to a man-to-man defensive scheme from former coach Ed Haugens' traditional zone.
“It kind of showed that we're starting from scratch because we had 26 team fouls and they shot 34 free throws to our 13,” Chuipek said. “They made 19 of 34 from the line.”
Cary-Grove 53, Woodstock North 36: Claire Jakubicek scored 17 points and the Trojans outscored the Thunder 36-11 in the first half to win the season opener for both teams in Cary.
Prairie Ridge 52, Dundee-Crown 51: The Wolves outscored the host Chargers 15-13 in the fourth quarter to win the season opener for both teams in Carpentersville. Ali Sanders scored 18 points in 24 minutes and Carlin Faulkner added 14 points for the Chargers.
Woodstock 55, Crystal Lake South 36: The Gators dropped their season opener at Woodstock despite a team-best 14 points from senior Brittany Pittas and 13 points from junior Stephanie Melone. The Gators trailed by 4 points entering the second quarter but were blanked 14-0 in the period to fall behind 29-11 at halftime.