Chargers rally from 13 down in 2nd half

Dundee-Crown’s Bruce Dantzler attempts a layup during the fourth quarter Tuesday against McHenry in McHenry. Dundee-Crown defeated McHenry, 51-49. (Jenny Kane – jkane@shawmedia.com)

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McHENRY – Dundee-Crown guard Will Stupar had a rather forgettable shooting performance through 31 minutes.

The final minute more than made up for it.

The senior left-hander, who was 0 for 8 to that point, came off a double screen and nailed a three-pointer from the left wing with 42 seconds to go. The Chargers’ defense, as it had most of the second half, took care of the rest and D-C escaped McHenry with a 51-49 victory in their Fox Valley Conference Valley Division boys basketball game Tuesday.

“It feels great,” Stupar said. “That’s our go-to play. Cordero [Parson] and Bruce [Dantzler] gave me a great screen and it felt good off my fingers. Coach [Lance Huber] had confidence in me and told me to keep shooting. That was really the only chance I had all game to set my feet, catch and shoot.”

D-C (13-7 overall, 6-1 FVC Valley) struggled through the third quarter, making 1 of 12 field goals, and fell behind 42-29 midway through that quarter. Huber went to guards Dantzler and Parson, who helped apply full-court pressure and ignite the Chargers.

“They really changed the tempo of the game,” Huber said. “We needed something, and they made a huge difference. We sacrificed a little offense there for defense, but what we were doing wasn’t working.”

Dantzler added eight points off the bench, while Brandon Rodriguez led the Chargers with 19 points. Rodriguez’s three-point play with 3:03 remaining cut the Warriors’ lead to 47-46. Dylan Kissack hit a 13-footer for the lead, but Shane Varvil canned a 16-footer to put McHenry (8-10, 3-4) back on top with 1:00 remaining.

Huber called timeout to set up the play for Stupar.

“We actually ran it against them the first time we played, but this time we switched Dylan and Will,” Huber said.

McHenry coach Tim Paddock remembered the play and predicted D-C would run it again.

“We thought they were going to run that,” Paddock said. “We talked about it in the timeout, but we got caught on the screen. This is tough, we had so many guys play so well.”

Rammel had a contested shot in the lane after Stupar’s shot, but it rolled off the rim and Dantzler rebounded it. Dantzler missed a free throw and McHenry rebounded, but Rodriguez then came up with a steal in the final 10 seconds to preserve the win.

Paddock lamented the eight fourth-quarter turnovers the Warriors committed. McHenry was outscored, 17-7, in the pivotal quarter.

“The defense helped us all the way,” Rodriguez said. “We got the intensity up and got some steals. They went from [man-to-man defense] to zone there in the third quarter, and we couldn’t comprehend how to attack it. It slowed us down.”

Rammel led all players with 20 points and Varvil added 10. Rammel’s four three-pointers brought his season total to six.

“it’s not a good feeling,” Rammel said. “Their pressure picked up and we freaked out at the end. This would have been a good one to have.”