Dundee-Crown pounds Cary-Grove to halt two-game skid

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Brandon Rodriguez

Updated: March 28, 2012 10:19PM

Dundee-Crown bounced back from two straight heartbreaking defeats with a 51-34 victory over Cary-Grove on Tuesday night in Carpentersville.

Brandon Rodriguez led the way for the Chargers with 16 points, including 10 in the first quarter.

“I just wanted to be aggressive after our loss to Crystal Lake South, that was a really tough one,” said Rodriguez. “Plus it was our senior night. I just wanted to give our seniors a night to remember.”

Ben Bradshaw’s layup gave Cary-Grove (6-20, 3-9) an early 5-4 lead, but then Rodriguez went off for the Chargers. The guard scored 10 straight points, including a three-pointer as the first quarter buzzer sounded. The Chargers (16-9, 9-3) led 14-5 going in the second quarter.

The Dundee-Crown run stretched to 13-0 after Kyle Bernhard (12 points, 7 rebounds) knocked down a three-pointer early in the second quarter that gave the Chargers a 17-5 advantage.

Ryan Arquette hit a jumper late in the third quarter, capping off an 8-2 Cary-Grove run and the Trojans went into halftime down 21-14.

Arquette then hit a three-pointer early in the third quarter that pulled the Trojans within four at 21-17.

However, Rodriguez quickly responded with a layup that sparked an 8-0 run. The Chargers never looked back and led by as much as 19 points in the fourth quarter.

The Chargers’ defense forced the Trojans into 18 turnovers, including 12 steals. Bruce Dantzler and JT Beasley each had three steals for Dundee-Crown.

“I thought we did some good things defensively, the guys played hard,” said Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber. “We’ve still got some room to improve on defense, but any time you keep the other team to 34 points like we did tonight, you’re going to have a pretty good chance to win.”

While Huber was happy his team was able to snap their losing streak, he was more pleased they were able to notch a win on senior night.

“It was nice to see us come out on top, especially for the seniors, they’ve been here for four years busting it hard,” said Huber. “We have a couple of them who don’t play a lot, and it was nice to get them all some minutes tonight. I think it’s more about them, it’s nice to send them out on a high note.”