McHenry holds off Dundee-Crown
Time simply ran out on Dundee-Crown's valiant second half comeback.
Dylan Kissack's desperation 60-foot heave at the buzzer fell short and McHenry, which played without its top two players in Brian Madson and Jimmy Preston, held off D-C 66-63 in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division boys basketball matchup in McHenry Tuesday night.
"McHenry came out fired up and we didn't," said Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber. "We played more like we are capable in the second half, but it was too little too late. The key to us losing was we had a chance to take three charges down the stretch and we didn't take the charge The kids didn't step up."
The short-handed Warriors (14-6, 2-3) torched the nets during the first 16 minutes, connecting on 13-of-19 shots for 68 percent.
McHenry, which made 5-of-7 shots from 3-point range for a sizzling 71 percent, held a comfortable 19-point cushion, 38-19, at halftime.
The Chargers (11-10, 3-4) refused to quit in the second half.
Sophomore point guard Brandon Rodriguez, who didn't score a point in the first half, led the Chargers' resurgence in the final 16 minutes.
Rodriguez, who scored all 19 of his points in the second half, scored on a conventional 3-point play with 2:46 left in the game to pull the Chargers within a point of the Warriors, 58-57.
D-C, which outscored McHenry 44-28 in the second half, couldn't get any closer.
McHenry sealed the win by making 8-of-8 free throws in the final 2 minutes. Kyle Frantz made 4-of-4 from the line while Kyle Melton and Jimmy Bellich connected on 2 each.
"In 19 years of coaching this is the greatest win," said McHenry coach Tim Paddock.
"Jimmy and Brian are our two leading scorers and rebounders, but these kids believed they could win. Everybody that played stepped up with a great effort. We had kids who have played meaningless minutes all year give us a great effort. We kept our poise at the end of the game and made our free throws."
Melton paced the winners with 25 points. Bellich and Pat Maher scored 11 apiece while Frantz scored 10.
Jamel Kimbrough backed up Rodriguez for D-C with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots while Ryan Smith scored 11 points with 4 assists.