Kaneland barely holds off Hampshire

Hampshire's Tyler Watzlawick ( front) tries to dribble around Kaneland's Dave Dudzinski in the first quarter of their IHSA Class 3A regional semifinal game Wednesday at Kaneland High School in Maple Park. (Beck Diefenbach – Shaw Suburban Media) ( ())

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MAPLE PARK – Hampshire tried everything it could to keep Kaneland center Dave Dudzinski from getting the ball in his hands with 11.3 seconds remaining.

Whip-Purs coach Bob Barnett had guards Justin Bieber and Shyler Ralphs both cover the Knights’ 6-foot-9 senior, but Kaneland still found a way. Dudzinski screened, then picked up a screen from a teammate and Ryley Bailey tossed the ball high in to him.

Dudzinski was fouled immediately by Bieber, and calmly swished both free throws as the Knights held off Hampshire, 48-45, in their IHSA Class 3A Regional boys basketball semifinal Wednesday night.

“I put Shyler and Justin both on him because he was the last one we wanted to foul,” Barnett said. “We wanted someone else to get the ball.”

Dudzinski, who will play at Holy Cross, delivered the kind of performance expected from an NCAA Division I player, hitting 7 of 9 field goals and 7 of 7 free throws.

“When I’m on the line like that, I try not to look at the scoreboard and just shoot the free throws,” Dudzinski said.

Second-seeded Kaneland (18-9) advances to Friday’s 7:30 p.m. championship game against No. 1 DeKalb. No. 3 Hampshire finishes at 17-10.

The Whips still had 9.8 seconds left after Dudzinski’s free throws gave the Knights a three-point lead. They rushed to the frontcourt and called
timeout. Sophomore Brock Ralphs wound up with the ball and was well-guarded when he fired a three-point attempt at the buzzer, but the ball bounced off the rim.

“We played them three times, and we knew their offense revolved around one guy,”
Shyler Ralphs said. “[Dudzinski] is a real good player. They had two guys screen me and Justin. We should have had someone switch to him.”

Hampshire’s downfall didn’t come at the finish as much as the third quarter, when it hit 1 of 10 field goals and was outscored, 10-4. Early in the fourth quarter, the Whips trailed, 39-32, before chipping away.

Hampshire had one shot to take a lead with 4:20 remaining and trailing, 39-37. Bieber’s three rimmed out and Dudzinski hit a 15-footer a few seconds later.

“I had a good look, but I kind of shot that one too quickly,” Bieber said.

Dudzinski scored Kaneland’s last nine points, but Hampshire kept close with Shyler Ralphs posting up.

“It’s a play I saw on TV, just a little chip block and posting him up,” Barnett said. “It’s a two-man game, so it’s tough for any help defense unless it comes from the other side.”

Shyler Ralphs’ 5-footer made it 46-45 with 51.9 seconds to go. The Whips still had two fouls to give before Kaneland was in the bonus and chose not to foul right away.

“We were trying to get a steal before fouling,” Bieber said.

The Whips fouled with 11.3 seconds to go, then got Dudzinski after the inbound pass.

“We ran our screen-the-screener play, Dave was the first screener,” Kaneland coach Brian Johnson said. “We got lucky to get our best guy the ball.”

Shyler Ralphs and Bieber each finished with 12 points, and Grant Yoder added nine on three threes in the first half.