Dundee-Crown staves off McHenry rally

Glass chins? Not these Chargers.

Fox Valley Conference Valley Division-leading Dundee-Crown absorbs the opponent's best shot every time it takes the floor. On Friday the Chargers again demonstrated the ability to take a punch and remain upright in a 59-53 victory over visiting McHenry.

After Dundee-Crown (17-5, 8-0) built a 27-12 second-quarter lead, the Warriors (11-12, 3-5) got back in the game with an 11-point run before halftime and kept the heat on the division leaders until the final seconds.

D-C led 54-48 after senior guard Jeff Beck (team-high 19 points) sank 2 free throws with 43.3 seconds to play in the fourth quarter. But McHenry cut the deficit to 4 points on an inside bucket by senior forward Chris Madson, who led all scorers with 25 points.

"Getting the ball inside is a big thing for us and it was working early, so we kept attacking with it," Madson said.

Said D-C coach Lance Huber: "We just had matchup problems all night long with (center) Charles (Kimbrough) in foul trouble. He's our only big guy."

McHenry junior Brett Palmer then stole the ball in a half-court trap and raced for a layup, but his contested shot didn't fall with 14 seconds to play, Beck grabbed the rebound, was fouled and subsequently split 2 free throws for a 55-50 lead.

Palmer then drained a fadeaway 3-pointer with 2.2 showing on the clock, but McHenry was whistled for an intentional foul on the ensuing inbounds play for holding D-C senior Marcus Henry.

Greg McNally sank both free throws to restore a 4-point lead. D-C inbounded to Rob Stupar, who was immediately fouled and sank 2 more free throws with 1 second left to establish the final margin of victory.

By weathering another Valley storm, the Chargers positioned themselves to clinch at least a share of the division title on Tuesday night at Cary-Grove.

"We know everybody wants to give us their best shot," Beck said. "We're on top right now, so everyone wants a piece of us. McHenry's a good team, but we got a couple of baskets when we needed them."

Seniors Aaron Reams and Kimbrough each added 8 points for the Chargers.