South Elgin sprints past Dundee-Crown
It took a little while for South Elgin to get started, but once the Storm starting clicking Dundee-Crown couldn’t stop them.
South Elgin, which spotted D-C an early 10-4 lead, scored the final 10 points of the first quarter and never looked back in posting a 72-57 win over the host Chargers in a first-round game of the Dundee-Crown Thanksgiving Tournament in Carpentersville Wednesday night.
“We can score a ton of points, but we have to rebound and play defense better,” said South Elgin coach Tim Pendergast. “Being a first game we got tired at the end of the game but that is to be expected. I was impressed with Dundee-Crown. They really ran their sets well and are much improved from last year.”
With Carlin Faulkner connecting on a pair of 3-pointers and Ali Sanders knocking one down herself, the Chargers opened up an early 6-point lead with 3:52 left in the first quarter.
But led by 12 points from standout Becca Smith, the Storm ended the initial 8 minutes on a 16-7 run and led 20-17 after one quarter of play.
Leading 37-29 at halftime, the Storm seized control of the game by scoring the first 6 points of the third quarter. With Smith scoring all 6 points, South Elgin extended an 8-point lead to 14, 43-29, with 6:12 left in the third quarter.
The Chargers finally broke through on the scoreboard in the second half on a 15-foot baseline jumper by Faulkner to make the score 43-31 with 5:44 left in the third quarter.
The closest D-C got was 8, 60-52, on a putback by Diamond Williams with 5:33 left in the game.
Smith paced the Storm with 30 points, while Alexa Matson scored 11. Smith now has 1,452 career points.
Faulkner, who made five 3-pointers, and Sanders paced the Chargers with 20 points each while Williams scored 15 with 12 rebounds
“For a first game there were a lot of positives,” said D-C coach Michelle Russell. “We had nice balance with Ali, Carlin and Diamond.
Becca Smith is such a great player who is very difficult to guard. We can build on this effort.”
Girls basketball
Willows Academy 46, Harvest Christian 17: Sydney Doby scored 10 points to lead the Lions in their season-opening loss at the Elgin Academy tournament.
Hononegah 49, Hampshire 24: Tiffany Bentley had 9 points to lead Hampshire in its season-opening loss at the Dundee-Crown tournament.
Newark 45, Westminster Christian 23: Elizabeth Meschewski led Westminster Christian (1-1) with 9 points in this loss at the Somonauk tournament.
Women’s basketball
Judson 90, Silver Lake 41: Riquel Butler had 18 points and Emily Ragsdale 15 to lead Judson (2-4) to a nonconference win.