Dixon rolls past Boylan to win second straight regional title

FREEPORT – After winning its first regional championship in 21 years last season, Dixon decided one title just wasn’t enough.

The Duchesses were efficient on offense and smothering on defense Thursday, defeating Rockford Boylan 50-20 in the Class 3A Freeport Regional final to take home their second title in as many years.

“It’s definitely really special, and I’m so happy that we’ve built something here at Dixon,” senior center Hallie Williamson said. “I’m very happy I get to do this with the Dixon Duchesses. I would honestly never have imagined this, but I’m really grateful I get to do it with this team.

“We definitely weren’t expecting that score, but I think just having the defense and offense both really click for us helped us a lot. I’m happy the game went the way we wanted it to go.”

Prior to last year, Dixon’s most recent regional title was in 2002-03. After coming up short following strong regular season finishes recently, the Duchesses (28-5) finally broke through last year with a trip to the Elite 8. This year, they added a second straight regional plaque with their seventh 20-win season in the last eight years (they went 11-4 in the COVID year in 2021).

And the 28 wins are the second-most in school history, behind the 1981-82 team that finished 30-2 on its way to third place at the Class AA state tournament. They advance to the 3A Rockford Boylan Sectional against either Kaneland or Crystal Lake South at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

“At the beginning of the season, we said that we wanted to be regional champs again, and we really wanted to stick to our goal,” Ahmyrie McGowan said. “Coming in Monday and today, we knew we had that chance, and we came out with a lot of confidence, a lot of energy, and I think we really exceeded that.”

Another fast start set the tone. The Duchesses had two 3-pointers and a three-point play in the game’s first five minutes, and Williamson and McGowan both added 3s in the final minute of the opening quarter to take a 21-5 lead for the second straight game.

“It was really important for us to start out on fire, and it was great to come out and start fresh,” Reese Dambman said. “We knew from the other night that coming out fast was really important for us, and a key to the win.”

“We always want to come in and start off strong, get our confidence up, and it makes us relax more during the game instead of playing tight,” Morgan Hargrave added. “Definitely just going at it right away was huge for us, just working the ball around, taking the best shot possible, hitting our open shots. We wanted to get a big lead in the beginning so we could have that confidence in ourselves, and it was nice to see it.”

Dambman opened the second quarter with a 3, and after a basket by Boylan’s Gianna DiGiovanni, the Duchesses scored the final 11 points of the first half to take a 35-7 lead into the locker room.

They kept things going after halftime, building the lead to as many as 35 (46-11) when Hargrave scored off a pretty pass from McGowan with 3:45 left in the third period.

“I feel like hitting those early shots hyped the team up and got us that good lead, and we played strong defense to push it,” McGowan said. “Boylan is a good team, so we knew that we couldn’t let down or they’d go on a run. We knew if we were able to stop them, we could get the job done.”

The stingy defense came thanks to an active half-court zone that saw McGowan playing at the top and Hargrave and Dambman taking away the wings. Williamson and Makenzie Toms patrolled the middle, and the Titans were tentative and struggled to find ways to attack.

“We just got in a groove and kept going,” Toms said. “That fast start really impacted the rest of the game, because we just had that big cushion. We were able to play a lot more loose, which makes it more comfortable and not so frantic.”

“We knew that defense was going to play a major role,” Dambman added. “We had to stop Bailey [Westlund] and Carolyn [Binz], so after we stopped them, we knew where everyone else was going to be, and that helped us cover it.”

DiGiovanni led Boylan (19-14) with eight points, and Westlund added five. Gianna Marinaro hit a 3 and grabbed a team-high three rebounds. The Titans assisted on all eight baskets, but shot just 27.6% (8-for-29) from the field, including 15.4% (2-for-13) from 3-point range.

McGowan had game highs of 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and a blocked shot for Dixon, while Williamson added 11 points, five rebounds, two steals and a block. Dambman finished with nine points and two assists, Hargrave had eight points and three assists, and Toms chipped in four points, six rebounds and two assists. The Duchesses held a 24-14 rebounding edge and shot 51.4% (18-for-35) from the floor while dishing 12 assists as everybody contributed to another regional title.

“It’s really awesome, especially to be able to make an impact,” Toms said. “I got pulled up for postseason as a sophomore, but actually being able to be out there and help the team win two regional titles, that’s a really good feeling, and I’m glad I got to do it with the girls who are on this team.”