Dudzinski's 29 points lead Kaneland to comeback win
If Rochelle is on the schedule, it must be time for Kaneland senior Dave Dudzinski to start lighting up the scoreboard.
After scoring a career-high 31 points against the Hubs last year, Dudzinski notched a season-high 29 Wednesday night in the Knights' 69-55 victory.
The 6-foot-9 Holy Cross recruit had a 6-inch height advantage against Michal McCulloch to start the game and an even bigger one when the Hubs went to their bench.
"When we play them, there's a lot of possessions, they go up and down, a lot of offensive opportunities," Dudzinski said. "I definitely enjoy (playing Rochelle)."
Despite Dudzinski's 14 points in the first half, the Knights trailed 32-26.
Kaneland coach Brian Johnson's halftime talk focused on effort and working the ball to Dudzinski. The Knights responded by outscoring the Hubs 43-23 in the second half, hitting 19 of their 30 shots from the field and turning the ball over just 5 times after 12 first-half turnovers.
"We talked about playing a little harder, a little more smart, playing with more energy," Johnson said.
"We made an effort to get Dave the ball. He's got a distinct height advantage and he's pretty strong down below. Defensively we talked about playing out on shooters more. The kids did a nice job making the adjustment."
Dudzinski, who hit 12 of his 18 shots from the field and 5 of 6 at the line, scored inside to start the second half. Ryley Bailey followed with an off-balance drive to the basket, then Dudzinski's putback tied the game at 32.
Rochelle regained the lead one last time when Kyle Furman, who picked up 4 fouls in the first half, nailed a 3-pointer. A three-point play by Chaon Denlinger followed by Dudzinski's score off Bailey's assist put Kaneland ahead 39-37, and the Knights never trailed again. A breakaway slam by Dudzinski and Pat Fleming's steal and layup in an 8-second span extended the lead to 47-40.
"I thought they executed their game plan getting it inside to Dudzinski," Rochelle coach Russ Zick said. "We had a 5-8 guy guarding him, there's not much we can do. We're not very deep and we can't rebound out of a zone so we have to stay man-to-man and sometimes we're our own worst enemy."
Rochelle stayed within 51-47 with five minutes to go before the Knights outscored the Hubs 18-8 to end the game. Denlinger tallied 8 of his 16 points in that stretch, capped by Andrew O'Herron's jumper and Zach Ringhouse's 2 free throws.
While Kaneland (5-2, 3-1) started to heat up after halftime, Rochelle (1-7, 0-4) turned cold missing its first six shots of the second half. The Hubs continued a trend of not being able to hold a halftime lead - they would be 5-2 this year if games ended after 16 minutes.
"I think they don't like being ahead very much," Zick said. "I think pressure bothers this group. They really, really don't like pressure shots. You can tell because kids who miss pressure shots by a little, no big deal, but kids who air ball or twang you know they are feeling it. It's just something they have to keep working on."
Furman led the Hubs with 15 points and Brandon Svela added 13. Nine Knights found the scorebook, with Fleming (6 points, 4 steals, 3 assists) giving Kaneland a spark off the bench.