Freeport 59, Dixon 35: Dixon, outgunned and outmanned, played confidently and aggressively against No. 7 Freeport in the semifinals of the Class 3A Sterling Regional.
“It’s a night to be loose and free,” coach Bob Venier said. “When you know the cards are against you, just go out and play hard and do the things you were coached to do and prove to yourself that it works. And it did.”
Not good enough to win. Not nearly. But the Duchesses (9-18) could end their season proudly with a 59-35 defeat Wednesday to a team that returned its four best players from last year’s state runners-up.
“I’m pleased with the game overall,” Venier said. “When you are playing the second-best team in the game, we weren’t too concerned with them. We just wanted to play good for ourselves, and I think we showed that somewhat.”
Dixon’s highlights included making three of their first four 3-pointers and having zero turnovers in the second quarter. Three of Dixon’s top six players are sophomores, including Holly Nicklaus, who had eight points, six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals Wednesday.
“Next year looks good,” Venier said. “We’re building on that right now. The sophomores are going to be a major factor in our program next season.”
For Freeport, the game started out like a perfect tune-up for Friday’s regional final. The Pretzels (26-3) played fast and flawless in a 15-0 run that took only 2 minutes and 16 seconds to open a 15-3 lead.
“That first three or four minutes, we looked good,” coach Ryan Pierce said. “From that point on, it was a little bit of a struggle to keep our focus. Friday, whoever we play will be in it a lot longer than Dixon was.”
That led Pierce to call timeout in the third quarter after the Pretzels committed three consecutive turnovers with a 49-18 lead. Freeport then turned it over one more time. Pierce spent half his postgame talk on that four-turnover stretch.
“We talked about how devastating that can be in a close game,” Pierce said. “Four turnovers in a row can kill you, can decide the game for you. And they weren’t great defensive plays. They weren’t aggressive plays on our part gone wrong. They were sloppy.”
Freeport’s quick start was helped by Dixon’s 3-point style.
“We had long misses on their part; that fed our break,” Pierce said. “We’re not a fast-breaking team where we’re going to try to shove it down the other team’s throat, but we’re opportune where if we have the numbers, we will take advantage of it.”
Suporia Dickens led Freeport with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Katie Norman had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Courtney Shiffer added 12 points and Freeport dominated the boards with 37 rebounds to Dixon’s 15.
The Pretzels also expanded their offense by making 5 of 11 3-point shots (46 percent).
“Less is more for us when it comes to 3-point shots,” Pierce said. “The less frequency we shoot, the more we make.”
-Matt Trowbridge, rrstar.com
