High school girls basketball: Dundee-Crown pulls away from Huntley

CARPENTERSVILLE – Huntley forward Sydney Novak tossed in a 3-pointer off the glass at the halftime buzzer, ending a 7-0 run by Dundee-Crown.

At the start of the third quarter, Huntley forward Kamsi Nwogu quickly got inside for two points and added a 3-pointer at the top of the key on the next Red Raiders possession, leading to a 7-0 run for her side and trimming D-C's lead to three.

Huntley wouldn't get any closer.

The Chargers played stifling defense and held Huntley to three points over the final 7:12 of the third and pulled away for a 46-26 win Tuesday at D-C in the Fox Valley Conference opener for both teams.

D-C (5-0, 1-0 FVC) held the Raiders (2-3, 0-1) to single digits in scoring in all four quarters. The Chargers outscored Huntley, 19-8, in the third, and took a 39-20 lead into the fourth.

"We knew they were going to come out physical after halftime," Chargers coach Sarah Miller said. "They had those first five, but I thought that lit a little bit of a fire, just with taking pride with our defense.

"Our defense is our identity, and I was really proud of us. [Huntley] didn't get into the bonus until the end of the fourth quarter."

Chargers junior forward Alyssa Crenshaw (six rebounds) scored six of her game-leading 12 points in the third. Junior guard Gianine Boado scored 11 points, including seven in the second quarter, and senior guard Payton Schmidt had eight.

Crenshaw said the Raiders are always one of the more physically imposing teams to go up against in the FVC.

D-C outrebounded the Raiders, 32-18, and held Huntley to 34.5% shooting (10 of 29). The Chargers shot 41% (18 of 44) from the field,

"We wanted to be physical back," Crenshaw said. "We don't want to be looked at like we're feared of that. We were just really packing it in and taking away their 3, and always boxing out."

The Raiders turned the ball over 20 times.

"Dundee-Crown is awfully good," Huntley coach Steve Raethz said. "They really imposed their will on us in the second half. I liked how we came out in the second half. We executed a couple of sets really well. From there, it just kind of went downhill.

"We gave up 19 points in the third. That's just too many to give up against a good team like Dundee-Crown. They outworked us, outplayed us and outhustled us in the second half."

Hannah Koehlert and Alaina Azar each chipped in a 3-pointer for D-C. Nwogu led the Raiders with seven points and a 3. Jessie Ozzauto added six points. No other Huntley player had more than three points.

The Chargers took second in the FVC last season, finishing 14-2 and a game behind Hampshire. D-C has championship aspirations this season in the 10-team FVC. Tuesday's win was a nice first step.

"Last year was upsetting ... and I think that kind of stung all of us," Schmidt said. "We never want that to happen again. We knew we could have won. We're going into every game hungry."

STAR OF THE GAME

Alyssa Crenshaw, Dundee-Crown, jr., F

Crenshaw faced constant double-teams and still scored a game-high 12 points with six rebounds.

THE NUMBER

9: Nine players scored for each team.

AND ANOTHER THING ...

Huntley's first points didn't come until 1:45 left in the first quarter. Madison Wash ended a 0-for-6 stretch for the Red Raiders with a 3-pointer.

Dundee-Crown 46, Huntley 26

Huntley 3 9 8 6 – 26

Dundee-Crown 8 12 19 7 – 46

HUNTLEY (26)

Nwogu 3 0-0 7, Novak 1 0-0 3, Wash 1 0-0 3, Ozzauto 3 0-0 6, Flaherty 0 1-2 1, Walker 0 1-2 1, Krich 1 0-0 2, Guazzo 1 0-0 2, Rysavy 0 1-2 1. Totals: 10 3-6 26.

DUNDEE-CROWN (46)

Schmidt 3 2-2 8, Skibinski 0 1-2 1, Randl 1 0-0 2, Crenshaw 4 4-5 12, Boado 5 0-0 11, Gotter 1 0-0 2, Oldham 1 0-0 2, Koehlert 1 0-0 3, Azar 1 0-0 3, Harris 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 7-9 46.

3-point goals: Huntley 3 (Novak, Wash, Nwogu). Dundee-Crown 3 (Boada, Koehlert, Azar). Total fouls: Dundee-Crown 11, Huntley 9.