Duchesses try to rally, but Carmel pulls away to take title

DIXON – With the volume in Lancaster Gym rising thanks to a strong start to the second half, the Dixon Duchesses looked like they were ready to make a run at the crown of their own tournament for the first time since 1995.

But Mundelein Carmel had other ideas, and the responding run put the Corsairs back in control en route to a 57-44 victory on Saturday night at Lancaster Gym.

Trailing 26-18 at halftime, the Duchesses (12-2) scored the first seven points of the third quarter by pounding the ball into Madelyn Chesley in the post. She hit three shots in the paint and a free throw on a three-point play, and suddenly Dixon was down 26-25 just 2:20 into the second half.

“We planned on moving the ball more and trying out everything we possibly could, so the post was definitely something were looking forward to at halftime,” Chesley said. “They had two tall girls, but we’re strong in the post too, so that’s where we went. That was the next option.”

“I just knew that [Madelyn] could finish over their posts, so we had to kick it into her so she could get us points,” guard Sam Tourtillott added. “We knew we had to come out that half and out-rebound them; that’s how they were getting all their points. We had to out-tough them, and that’s how we got back into it.”

Carmel (12-2), which scored 12 first-half points after grabbing offensive rebounds, missed its first two shots of the half, while Dixon scored on its first three third-quarter possessions.

When Carmel coach Ben Berg called a timeout with 5:37 left in the third to try and restore order, the raucous Dixon crowd made itself heard.

“We just had to kind of work our way through it,” Berg said. “They run their stuff really well; they’re patient and they pass the ball and they find their people. It was just being connected a little bit more on defense.”

It also helped that the Corsairs got hot on offense. After those first two missed shots of the half, Carmel didn’t miss another field goal attempt until midway through the fourth quarter.

Emma Berg started it off with a drive to the basket, then Mia Gillis scored underneath on a inbounds play before Kaytlyn Matz scored down low. Freshman sensation Jordan Wood then got on track, hitting a layup off a pretty cut down the lane and a Berg pass. Wood then nailed a 3 on the next possession, and later finished the quarter with a drive down the lane for a 40-30 Carmel lead.

“It was definitely just encouragement and keeping each other going and making sure everybody’s head was up,” Wood said. “We knew we really wanted to win this, so we kept firing and they kept going in. My teammates encouraged me a lot, like Kaytlyn Matz, Katie Lach, Emma Berg, they just kept telling me, ‘Hey, keep your head up, don’t worry about it, you’re good,’ and it kind of got me hyped up.”

Matz and Wood opened the fourth quarter with a two-man game for a Wood jumper, then Wood scored with 6:01 left and finished off a three-point play off a baseline drive with 5:20 remaining for a 47-35 lead.

“Jordan’s a talented kid, so she’s going to be able to take control of the game sometimes,” coach Berg said. “She extended the lead back out.”

While Carmel shot 71% (10-for-14) from the field in the second half to finish the game at 51% (20-for-39) – including 7-for-14 from 3-point range – Dixon shot just 38% (16-for-42) for the game, and was 4-for-18 from 3-point range, with all four 3s coming in the final 7:04.

“Normally our shots are there, and when they weren’t falling tonight, I knew we had to drive the ball more and get to the rim more,” Tourtillott said. “They just out-toughed us. Their defense was tougher than us, and their rebounding was tougher than ours. Our defense just wasn’t there tonight.”

Early on, it was Emma Berg’s shooting that kept the Duchesses at bay. She hit three first-half 3s, including a dagger from the left wing at the halftime buzzer after Tourtillott and Elle Jarrett had scored on back-to-back possession to draw Dixon within five at 23-18.

“Emma definitely played a really good game, and she set the tone, especially in the first half when the rest of us weren’t really hitting,” Wood said. “She kept making shots and kept us going.”

But instead of the Carmel buzzer-beater taking the wind out of the Duchesses’ sails, they seemed unfazed, and looked to Chesley to carry them in the low post to start the second half.

“We kept the energy,” Chesley said. “We really wanted this; we haven’t been this far in our own tournament in a while, so we really wanted to come back and win. That 3-pointer didn’t really affect us; we knew what we wanted and what we were going to come back the second half and try to do.”

Tourtillott finished with 10 points and three assists, and Chesley added nine points, seven rebounds and two assists as Dixon took second in its own tournament for the seventh time, and first since 2002. Abby Guthrie had eight points and two assists, Caylyn Kimmel had five points and two steals, and Jarrett chipped in four points, three rebounds, three assists and the Duchesses’ lone blocked shot.

Wood led Carmel with 18 points and five rebounds. Berg had 15 points and three assists, and Matz added 13 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Girls basketball

Dixon Holiday Classic championship

Carmel 57, Dixon 44

Star of the game: Jordan Wood, Carmel, 18 points, 5 rebounds

Key performers: Emma Berg, Carmel, 15 points, 3 assists; Kaytlyn Matz, Carmel, 13 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds; Sam Tourtillott, Dixon, 10 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds; Madelyn Chesley, Dixon, 9 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists

Up next: Winnebago at Dixon, 7 p.m. Jan. 7