Girls basketball: Dixon’s hot start sinks DeKalb

DIXON – Even after the emotions of senior night festivities before the game, the Dixon girls basketball team was all business Monday night at Lancaster Gym.

The Duchesses started off hot and never looked back against DeKalb, winning the nonconference game, 47-32, after opening the game with a 21-2 run.

“I think since it was senior night, we wanted to come together as a team and play hard for our seniors,” junior forward Harvest Day said, “and also show everyone that even though our emotions kick in for a game like tonight, we can still go out there and play like we do.”

[ Photos from Monday night's Dixon vs. DeKalb girls basketball game ]

Balance was the key for Dixon (22-4). Five players scored in the first quarter, and seniors Elle Jarrett an Rylee Pfoutz hit 3-pointers around a baseline drive by classmate Sam Tourtillott in a 12-0 run over the final five minutes of the quarter.

“The last few games we’ve been starting off slow, so our main focus today was just to come out strong and not get behind in the first quarter, and we did that,” Tourtillott said. “We were just able to move the ball and get the defense moving, and we were able to get everyone on the team involved, which made the defense have to think about who they wanted to guard.”

Tourtillott nailed a 3 and Ella Govig scored on a pretty post-to-post pass from Jarrett to open the second quarter, and the Duchesses led by 19 only 10 minutes into the game.

“We wanted to come out and establish ourselves initially right in the first part of the game,” DeKalb coach Mark Sykes said. “There was a lot of emotion going on in their gym, and we were hoping to take that to the next level and get ahead. But they came out and played hard from the start, and they’re a good basketball team. Give them a lot of credit.”

Natalie Rosenow provided the spark as DeKalb (13-8) tried to fight back. She scored 10 of the Barbs’ 14 points in the second quarter, and her bank shot – which finally fell through the hoop after rolling around the rim for a few seconds – cut the deficit to 25-14 with 43 seconds left in the first half.

But Day hit a shot 13 seconds later to give Dixon a 27-14 lead at the break, then she scored two quick baskets to open the third quarter. Both came off assists from Tourtillot, the first on a post-to-post pass and the second after hard basket cut by Day. After a Tourtillott free throw, Govig scored inside, then hit two free throws on the Duchesses’ next possession for a 37-15 lead less than three minutes into the second half.

“We have so many options that we’re able to go a lot of places for points,” Jarrett said. “We’ve got good guards, and we’ve got good posts, and we can switch around and score lots of points. It’s a really good group.”

Dixon did most of its damage inside. After the three 3s in the first six minutes of the game, the Duchesses shot from the perimeter only five more times the rest of the way, as they either drove to the basket or fed it into the post players on the low blocks for buckets.

Day had 12 points down low, Govig had six points inside, Tourtillott added four, Jarrett also posted up for a basket, and Abby Knipple had a first-period putback as Dixon scored 26 of its 47 points in the paint; they rest came on four 3-pointers and nine free throws.

“We were just running our stuff well, setting the screens we needed to, getting nice passes into the post,” Jarrett said.

“Getting an assist to your post partner is just the best feeling,” Day said, “because you know how it feels yourself to get a great pass and score, so you just know that it’s a great moment.”

Dixon also was strong on the defensive end, mixing in some man-to-man and half-court zone. The Duchesses allowed only four points in the first 11 1/2 minutes of the game, then later, DeKalb managed only two free throws over the first five minutes of the third quarter.

“We were able to play a lot of different defenses that we had a lot of success with,” Jarrett said. “We came up with a lot of answers to what they wanted to do.”

Even as the deficit grew in the second half, the Barbs never stopped fighting. Kailey Porter scored on a pretty up-and-under post move, then Rosenow scored to finish off a possession featuring several crisp passes.

Dixon led 43-20 through three quarters, then Day and Govig answered baskets by DeKalb’s Amina Gray and Madison McNeil for a 47-24 lead. But the Barbs scored the last eight points over the game’s final 4:04, as Porter scored twice inside and Gray hit Kira Klapprodt for a runout layup, then Klapprodt hit a baseline jumper to close the scoring with 1:27 to play.

“I’m super proud of the effort, because that’s what we need to do, just keep getting better at this time of year,” Sykes said. “That was the thing at the end of the game, we’re working on some situational stuff to be successful down the road in the postseason.

“So I’m super proud of our effort, our fight was there, but we’ve got to come out strong off the bus. You don’t win the game in the fourth quarter if you lost it in the first quarter. Again, credit to them, they’re a good basketball team.”

Day led Dixon with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Govig finished with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Tourtillott and Jarrett added eight points each; Tourtillott had five assists, four rebounds and two steals, and Jarrett grabbed three rebounds. Pfoutz pulled down three rebounds and dished three assists to go with her first-quarter 3-pointer.

Rosenow finished with 12 points, three rebounds and two steals for DeKalb, and Porter had eight points and four rebounds. Klapprodt dished two assists to go with her six points, and Gray chipped in two points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.