Second-half surge sends Dixon past La Salle-Peru

DIXON – In a tie game late in the third quarter, Dixon flipped a switch Wednesday night against La Salle-Peru.

The Dukes used a huge run to end the third quarter and start the fourth to pull away for a 56-40 victory over the Cavaliers at Lancaster Gym.

Dixon (18-4) went on a pair of 10-0 runs around a three-point play by L-P’s Marion Persich to turn a 33-33 game into a 53-36 lead. The 20-3 run started with 1:15 left in the third quarter and ended with 3:21 left in the fourth.

“Honestly, I thought we just ran plays well,” Dixon’s Darius Harrington said. “We found open guys on cuts and drives. They were overplaying a lot, and we just found those guys back-cutting. We were getting open shots, we were getting the drive-and-kick, and we were knocking down shots.”

After the Cavaliers (9-13) started out the game on fire – they shot 8 of 12 in the first quarter to build a 16-9 lead – the Dukes ended the game with the hot hand, hitting nine of their final 13 shots.

“It’s so smooth when we get the offense flowing,” Cullen Shaner said. “Whenever we see that back-cuts are working, we just get the ball and move it and cut – and when we can find those cutters, it just opens everything up. And when everybody’s looking at Darius, he can drive, he can kick, and when we’re hitting shots, that just makes everything easier.”

For the game, Dixon had 17 assists on 23 baskets and turned the ball over just eight times, with all five starters dishing at least three assists each. The Cavs “held” Harrington to 18 points – 11.5 below his season average – but the other four starters combined for 38 points and 14 assists.

“Props to them, they had a good defensive game plan for Darius – but it’s not a one-man show,” Eli Davidson said. “There’s five people out there, and when they’re playing that heavy on one guy, that’s the Darius effect. He’s got 10 eyeballs on him, so we’ve got to be able to step up and make plays, and I thought we did a good job of that.”

L-P led 16-10 after the first quarter, then Persich scored the final two baskets of the second quarter to go into halftime tied 24-24. A 3 and a layup by Erick Sotelo put the Cavs ahead 29-26 with 4:31 to play in the third.

Harrington scored inside, then Shaner nailed a 3 and Brady Feit scored on a basket cut as Dixon regained a 33-29 lead. But an open layup from Jameson Hill and two free throws by Persich tied the score with 1:27 left in the third.

But Dixon clamped down on defense. After scoring on several point-blank shots early, L-P made just three of its final 11 shots while committing 12 of its 16 turnovers in the second half.

“That’s been our problem all year, we haven’t finished games … and quite honestly, we just don’t finish because we don’t do what we’re supposed to do,” L-P coach John Senica said. “I was missing one of my starters tonight, had another one that’s sick – I didn’t have a full board tonight – but guys didn’t step up the way they should’ve. We didn’t run the offense, we didn’t play defense, and it comes down to not doing what you’re told to do on the floor. If you don’t do that, you’re not going to win games.”

Davidson said it was a matter of effort and desire that led to the tighter defense.

“We had to move faster laterally. They were getting past us, plain and simple, so it was a mental adjustment, really, more than a physical thing,” Davidson said. “We decided we had to get lower. We had to move our feet and stay in front of them, and we did a really good job in the second half and made them settle for some tougher shots than they were getting in the first half.”

Davidson led Dixon with a career-high 20 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal, and Harrington added four rebounds, three assists and two steals to his 18 points – 14 of which came after halftime. Shaner had 12 points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals, Feit added four points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals, and Brody Nicklaus chipped in two points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Persich led L-P with 13 points and five rebounds, while Nick Olivero had 12 points (all in the first quarter), three rebounds and a steal. Sotelo added nine points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Hill chipped in four points, three rebounds and a steal.