D-C plays Streaks tough

Woodstock's girls basketball team may have exited the Dundee-Crown gymnasium stage left Tuesday night having stolen the 71-54 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division victory, but the Chargers left the court with momentum.

D-C overcame two dozen Blue Streak swipes to tie things up at 38-38 with 5 minutes left to play in the third quarter, but simply couldn't close with the upset, coming up short for the 12th consecutive game.

Down 36-29 at the break, Melissa Summaria followed up a Woodstock bucket connecting from long distance to pull the Chargers within 6 at 38-32 off an Alex Lococo dish. After a turnover, Lococo found Jill Gantz underneath to make it 38-36, and Summaria followed with a jumper from inside the paint.

With 5:01 remaining in the third, Lococo broke through the lane to cap off a 9-0 D-C run while knotting things up at 38-38.

"We didn't make too many adjustments at the half," said Dundee-Crown coach Michelle Russell. "They were getting too many open shots so we did talk about getting some hands up there. Other than that, I was very pleased with what I had seen up to that point."

Summaria finished the game with 18 points to lead the D-C offense including three from behind the arc.

"Melissa played her heart out for us," said Russell. "She had an outstanding game."

Despite the loss, the Chargers saw four players finish with double-digit scoring.

Lococo collected 11 points to go along with 4 assists and half a dozen steals, while Gantz was a force underneath, recording 11 points and 5 rebounds.

Tori Scarpelli was effective early for Dundee-Crown (2-14, 0-2), but was an impact player particularly late racking up 8 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals in the fourth quarter alone. Scarpelli finished the game nabbing a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals.

"Tori was a scrapper tonight," said Russell. "At five-foot-eight she's deceptive under the basket. She gets a lot done for us."

Woodstock also had four players hit double figures including Mollie Whiting, who led all scorers with 19 points. Lisa Kucharski (6 steals), Baily Brown (3 steals, 5 rebounds) and Tawnee Vermett (8 steals) each finished with 10 points for the Blue Streaks. Chrissy Velasquez hit the boards for 8 rebounds.

"Woodstock is a very strong, very quick team," Russell said. "But, I give our girls credit. We stuck with them. This was hands down our best effort this season. This team doesn't quit. They always play hard, and tonight they gave me four solid quarters. Considering the way they played, I hope to see this intensity turn things around."