Boys Basketball: Dundee-Crown’s early lead downs Buffalo Grove

Updated: December 21, 2011 6:56PM

Dundee-Crown’s boys basketball team hoped to bounce back Wednesday against Buffalo Grove after a tough loss to Indiana power La Lumiere Tuesday at the Elgin Holiday Tournament.

The Chargers wasted little time doing just that.

D-C hit eight three-pointers in the first half, scoring 26 first-quarter points and building a 22-point halftime lead en route to a dominating 71-45 win. The Chargers improve 6-5 on the season and will play for fifth place in the tournament Thursday at 5:15 p.m. against the Glenbard North/Harlan winner.

“I think we wanted to come out strong after that loss yesterday, and I think we did that,” Dundee-Crown guard Kyle Bernhard said. “I was anxious to see how we would respond because we were kind of down after the loss yesterday. We felt we didn’t play well. But we really bounced back with a statement.”

Bernhard had a lot to do with making that statement. He hit four of his six three-pointers in the game in the first quarter as the Chargers jumped to a 26-11 lead on the shell shocked Bison (4-8). Bernhard led all scorers with 18 points in the win.

Bernhard added two more threes in the second quarter, and Dylan Kissack (10 points) hit a pair of three-pointers in the half as well. That led to a 45-23 lead at the half.

“I thought we passed the ball well today, and obviously it helps when you make shots,” Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber said. “When you make shots, the other team gets frustrated because they don’t expect you to make that many. We shot it like crazy in the first half. It makes the game a lot easier. When you shoot the ball well and make shots, you look really smart as a coach.”

Buffalo Grove did put together 9-0 run in the third quarter, but it only got the Bison to within 16 points. The Chargers were able to stop that run with a solid contribution off the bench from Bruce Dantzler. He scored seven of his nine points in the quarter to help D-C maintain its large lead.

“Bruce has been solid for us off the bench all year,” Huber said. “He’s kind of grown into that role. He’s just able to give us a spark that we haven’t had in a couple of years off the bench. He’s really excelling in that role.”

After finishing 14th in the tournament last year, the Chargers get a chance to play for fifth place Thursday.

“In previous years, we haven’t gotten this far,” Bernhard said. “I think this tea can do really good things. I think we have a chance to be a really good team.”

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