Burlington takes 3rd at own tourney
Camille De la Cruz plays an instrumental role for Burlington Central's offense when she's running the point.
Wednesday it was her defense that helped the Rockets secure a 39-34 win over Marengo in the third-place game of Central's Thanksgiving Classic.
De la Cruz blocked Marengo's Alexa Troman and then came up with a steal in the final minute. The sophomore finished the game with 3 steals.
“She's very quick and anticipates very well,” Rockets coach Stephanie Smith said. “She has to lead as a sophomore. She's definitely stepping up and has done it so far.”
De la Cruz' offensive impact came in the fourth quarter as well as she recorded 3 of her 5 assists by lobbing the ball down low to expose Central's height advantage. Twice she found Brenda Thasavong down low. The second basket gave Central a 39-31 lead with 2:53 left to play. After trailing the entire game, Marengo (3-2) had come within 31-29 early in the fourth quarter.
De la Cruz lobbed the ball inside to Thasavong to extend the Central (4-2) lead to 33-29.
“(Inside scoring is) probably the most important thing with our height advantage,” said Thasavong, who was named to the all-tournament team. “It's an easy shot and it flows well. At first we weren't looking for it.”
The Indians answered back with a bucket from Amber Fillmore, but this time De la Cruz hooked up with Alli Settanni (8 points, 10 rebounds) to put Central up 35-31.
“That's our play, we try to get the ball down to the big girls,” said De la Cruz (4 points, 5 assists, 3 steals).
Central was able to use its height advantage in more than just offensive baskets against the Indians. Both Settanni and Thasavong finished with 10 rebounds and combined for 18 of Central's points. Thasavong scored 6 of her 10 in the final period, while Settanni was a beast on the boards in the first half finishing with 4 offensive rebounds. Central outrebounded Marengo 34-27.
Central jumped out to a 10-4 lead by the end of the first quarter, with 5 different Rockets scoring a basket. Marengo was able to come back to 19-16 at halftime after Central shot 3 of 17 from the floor in the second quarter. The Rockets did respond by going 8 of 14 in the second half though.
Marengo's Jessica Villie recorded a double-double finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds, with 9 offensive. Shawney Damisch added 8 steals in the loss.