Streamwood denies Dundee-Crown
Streamwood sophomore Hannah McGlone was upset at herself over her free-throw percentage dropping lately.
So she did something about it.
“After my percentage went down about halfway through I’ve really been working on it,” McGlone said.
The work paid off Wednesday night when McGlone hit 13 of 13 from the line and scored a game-high 25 points to lead Streamwood to a 67-51 win over Dundee-Crown in the second semifinal of the Class 4A South Elgin girls basketball regional.
The second-seeded Sabres (15-13) will be after the program’s first regional title since 1988 when they take on host South Elgin at 7:30 p.m. Friday. South Elgin defeated Larkin 77-41 in Wednesday’s first semi.
The Sabres’ win overshadowed a milestone night for Dundee-Crown senior Ali Sanders, who eclipsed the 1,000 point mark for her career in the loss.
As a team Streamwood made 26 of 28 from the free-throw line in the game, including 16 of 17 in the second half.
“It was outstanding free throw shooting,” said Sabres’ coach George Rosner, whose team made 24 straight from the line at one point. “We got in a rhythm and had it going.”
The Sabres also had their defense going. Employing a full court trapping defense, Streamwood helped Dundee-Crown (15-11 into 19 first-half turnovers and 28 for the game.
“Turnovers again,” lamented D-C coach Michelle Russell. “It plagues us the whole time. We attacked more and played harder in the second half but we didn’t play smart enough defense and we had too many turnovers.”
Streamwood led 20-15 midway through the second quarter then went on a 9-0 run to close the first half with a 29-17 lead. D-C would get no closer than 9 in the second half.
“We tried to mix it up a little (defensively) and we didn’t go man until the end of the first half,” said Rosner. “Our pressure was good and we forced some turnovers. We rebounded well also. Hannah really hit the boards.”
The 6-foot McGlone had 14 rebounds as Streamwood outrebounded D-C 30-26. The Sabres also shot a respectable 19-for-41 while the Chargers were just 17 of 47.
Junior Jessica Cerda added 17 points for the Sabres and junior Deja Moore had 15. Sanders led D-C with 21 points. The Florida Southern signee finished her D-C career with 1,017 points. Senior Diamond Williams added 11 points and senior Carlin Faulkner had 8 for the Chargers.
Streamwood now gets a shot at South Elgin in a U-46 regional title game.
“They have a great D-I player in Becca (Smith) and a lot of people who fill their roles,” said Rosner of the Storm. “We’ll have to come to play from start to finish.”