Fast starts help Dixon dominate Belvidere in Class 3A regional semifinal

FREEPORT – Hot starts to both halves sent Dixon past Belvidere 58-28 in their Class 3A Freeport Regional semifinal Monday night.

The second-seeded Duchesses (27-5) went on a 19-0 run in the first quarter, then outscored the Bucs 24-1 in the third quarter to cruise into the championship game against No. 5 seed Rockford Boylan – a 55-47 winner over Freeport in the second semifinal – at 6 p.m. Thursday.

“It’s always nerve-wracking when you come into a postseason game because you never know when it’s your last game,” senior Hallie Williamson said. “But I think coming out so fast in the beginning helped us build our confidence, and we just kept building our lead the whole entire time.

“Then it was really key to start fast after halftime. We had a couple of turnovers going into the half, so I think us coming out and getting those quick baskets from Ahmyrie [McGowan]. She just went back-to-back-to-back, kept going to the basket, just helped us take the momentum back and they really couldn’t stop us from there.”

Williamson was the spark in the first half, scoring 14 of Dixon’s 26 points, including 10 in the first-quarter surge that turned a 2-2 tie into a 21-2 lead.

After Belvidere cut the deficit to 26-15 by halftime on Emma Pierson’s loose-ball putback, the Duchesses came out of the locker room red hot. McGowan scored three baskets in the first 1:12 of the quarter on drives to the hoop, igniting another 19-0 run before the Bucs (17-15) got on the board.

“We had a big lead in the first quarter, but as good as Belvidere was, we knew we had to keep going,” McGowan said. “They started to come back, but at halftime, we knew we needed to stick to our plan, just keep going and not let up. We knew that if we were to slow down a little bit, they could catch back up and make it a close game. So we came out strong in the second half.”

Defense was also the Duchesses’ calling card after the break. Pierson scored nine of Belvidere’s 15 first-half points, so Dixon switched to a box-and-1 in the second half, with athletic junior Morgan Hargrave hounding Pierson all over the court.

With their leading scorer struggling to get open – Pierson finished with 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting – the Bucs’ offense bogged down. For the first three-plus quarters, until Dixon subbed out its starters with 6:29 left in the game, Belvidere shot just 14.7% (5 of 34) from the field, and made only two of its 13 3-point attempts.

“Our biggest priority was just to lock [Pierson] down. If we did that, we knew the rest of our defense would take care of things,” Hargrave said. “Just shutting her down, I think we all did a great job defending her. It wasn’t just one person, it was all five of us.”

Dixon used its size advantage to dominate the glass, outrebounding the Bucs 41-15 and scoring 13 second-chance points on 13 offensive boards. In the first quarter, the Duchesses scored off four of their five offensive rebounds and held a 28-10 rebounding edge heading into halftime.

“Coming into the game, we talked about rebounding and how it was going to help us get to where we needed to go,” senior Makenzie Toms said. “We just knew we had to rebound hard, and it definitely helped the momentum.”

After a rough second quarter that saw Dixon shoot 2 of 12 from the field while committing six turnovers, it regrouped at halftime. The Duchesses missed just two shots (13 of 15) the entire second half – and one of them led to a putback basket.

“We talked in the locker room, all those turnovers [in the second quarter], that wasn’t us, and we knew that,” Hargrave said. “Definitely just picking it up coming out [in the third quarter], Ahmyrie had those three quick baskets, and that definitely turned us up and got us going on a good run.”

“It was definitely just taking our time, making sure passes were there and not forcing it,” Toms said. “We knew they were going to trap us, so we needed to stay calm and make sure it was open before we just tossed it.”

Williamson finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot, while McGowan had a 15-point, 14-rebound double-double and also dished five assists.

Reese Dambman had seven points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals, and Hargrave (three rebounds, one block) and Toms (nine rebounds) both scored four points. Kylie Gaither chipped in five points off the bench for the Duchesses, who shot 55.8% (24 of 43) for the game.