Important victory for Dundee-Crown
It is only the first time through the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division schedule, but the Dundee-Crown girls basketball team certainly got a key victory Tuesday night.
The Chargers remained unbeaten in conference play with a 44-41 victory over Huntley despite losing a 16-point lead in Carpentersville.
"This is huge for us. We knew that Huntley and Cary-Grove were the teams we're looking at," D-C senior Ali Sanders said. "Having this is awesome. We know that every win is important."
D-C (10-6, 4-0) closed out the first quarter on a 9-2 run to take an 11-8 lead into the second quarter. The Chargers then scored the first 13 points of the second for a 24-8 lead with 3:35 left. Sanders scored seven points during the second-quarter run.
The Red Raiders (9-5, 3-1) scored the final five points of the first half to cut the deficit to 24-11. They started to chip away even more in the third quarter. A Kelsey Seitz 3-pointer with 2:25 left in the third made it a 6-point game, 30-24. Samantha Andrews' 3-point play with 21.8 second left got Huntley within 3, 32-29, entering the fourth.
"We talked about that at halftime. They were going to come out with a vengeance," said D-C coach Michelle Russell, whose team has accomplished double-digit wins for the first time since 2007-08. "We laid down a little bit."
A pair of free throws from Andrews with 5:32 remaining capped a 21-6 run to give the Red Raiders a 36-34 lead, their first lead since 6-4. Sanders hit a pair of free throws with 3:24 left to break a 38-38 tie. The Chargers wouldn't trail again.
Huntley's Haley Ream's 3-point attempt with 25 seconds left that would have tied the game at 43 went in and out. Andrews and the Chargers' Sammy Murray traded free throws to make it 44-41. Huntley had two attempts in the final 10 seconds to tie, but both 3-point attempts missed.
"It's really disappointing to see us not put together a full game with what the stakes were for this game," Red Raiders coach Steve Raethz said. "Both teams are going into this game 3-0. It's early in the conference season, but it's still an opportunity to get a leg up. We didn't play with a real sense of urgency in the first half."
Sanders and Diamond Williams each scored 16 points to lead D-C. Williams added 12 rebounds coming off the bench.
Andrews scored a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds for Huntley, which went 4-for-21 in the first half and 12-for-25 in the second half. Ream added 8 points.