Dundee-Crown upends Jacobs
As the Dundee-Crown girls basketball team boarded the team bus after its 47-30 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win over Jacobs Friday night, you could swear the girls won a state championship by the way they were screaming and celebrating.
“We haven’t won against Jacobs for varsity in like four years,” said Chargers’ guard Allison Sanders. “This is our senior’s last time playing Jacobs and we really wanted to get out there and win because we knew if we played our hardest, we could win.”
The rivalry still resonates well among the two District 300 schools and amid the records of both clubs this season, both know how important bragging rights come to play in a season where there might not be much to brag about. Add that to Jacobs’ 48-46 close win in Carpentersville on January 11, D-C was waiting to crash Jacobs’ own Senior Night.
“It was that and the rivalry,” Sanders added. “Every time you play Jacobs you have to play your hardest.”
D-C (8-16, 2-7) used that motivation and hit its first 6 shots, cruising to an early 11-2 lead behind Sanders’ 11 first-quarter points. The Chargers also a used a 13-1 run in the second quarter behind Carlin Faulkner’s 7 points and an watched 8-point lead explode to 17 at halftime. Sanders (17 points) and Faulkner (7 points) accounted for half of the Chargers’ scoring.
The Chargers shot 14 for 26 from the field and outscored the Golden Eagles 15-6 in the second quarter while Jacobs made just 4 for 26 shots. The Golden Eagles saw a big chunk of their offense sitting as top player Melanie Schwerdtmann went out with foul trouble. Schwerdtmann finished with just 9 points as the Chargers’ defense was effective with its primary game plan.
“We wanted to focus in on Schwerdtmann and try to keep the ball out of her hands,” D-C coach Michelle Russell said. “She’s a nice player and she kind of killed us last game.”
“I think it’s a good game plan because Mel gets a little down on herself when things don’t start going the right way,” Jacobs coach Keith Chuipek said. “She was in early foul trouble with two and I had to put her back in really quick and I guess their game plan worked really well.”
Jacobs (3-21, 2-7) finished a dismal 8 of 48 overall shooting with Schwerdtmann only taking 5 shots. The Chargers won the battle of the boards 33-20, 12 of which came from Diamond Williams.
“That was probably the most intense game they played as a team all year,” Russell said. “It’s starting to come together. If you can start to play your best basketball at the end of the year, that’s what you hope for and that’s what they’re doing right now.”
McHenry 55, CL South 42: Brittany Pittas scored 17 points and Stephanie Melone added 12 but the Gators (3-21, 1-8) fell in this FVC Valley game.