Munson, Dundee-Crown upset top-seeded Cary-Grove

Nick Munson enjoys the feeling when it seems like everything he shoots is going to go into the basket.

The Dundee-Crown senior felt that way early Tuesday evening. Munson hit his first six shots, including five 3-pointers, helping the Chargers surprise No. 1 seed Cary-Grove, 47-41, in the Class 4A Crystal Lake Central regional semifinals.

"It's a great feeling. I love that feeling," Munson said. "It gets not only me going, but the whole team."

The fifth-seeded Chargers (10-17) will play Jacobs on Friday for the regional championship, a team the Chargers lost to twice during the regular season. Jacobs beat Prairie Ridge 55-46 in Tuesday's second semifinal.

Munson scored the Chargers' first 6 points, hitting two 3-pointers. The Trojans (15-13) led 10-9 after the first quarter and 12-9 45 seconds into the second quarter after a Tyler Szydlo bucket. Munson had an offensive rebound and putback and then hit a 3-pointer - also off a D-C offensive rebound - to give the Chargers a 14-12 lead and start a 10-0 run. Munson capped the run with another 3-pointer with 5:17 remaining in the first half to give D-C a 19-12 lead. C-G wouldn't get within 4 again the rest of the game.

"He just got hot and got on a streak," Chargers' coach Lance Huber said of Munson. "He hasn't really been on a tear like that in a game this year. He picked a good time to have one."

Munson hit his fifth 3-pointer, again after a D-C offensive rebound, with 3:03 to go before halftime for a 22-14 lead. Munson had 17 points at halftime and finished with a game-high 19.

The Trojans scored only 4 points, hitting just 1 of 9 shots, in the third quarter and trailed by 7, 29-22, heading into the fourth. The closest they could get in the fourth was 5, 32-27. D-C hit 12 of 18 free throws in the fourth to seal the win.

Munson also had 7 rebounds. Cordero Parson added 9 points for D-C.

Jason Gregoire led the Trojans with 17 points, 12 in the first half, and 8 rebounds. Szydlo added 8 points. With the defeat, C-G lost its final four games of the season.

"We put a lot of pressure on Jason to always attack, attack, attack," Trojans' coach Ralph Schuetzle said. "It's a team game. You've got to have other guys step up and make baskets."