Dundee-Crown’s Jordan Hairston brings defensive energy to his team. He likes to push the ball, get steals and deliver kick-out passes to get fast-break points.
The junior guard did a little bit and all of that Monday night as the host Chargers rolled to a 63-47 win over Hampshire in the Class 4A Dundee-Crown Regional quarterfinals.
Despite not scoring in the first quarter, Hairston finished with a game-high 22 points. He shot 7-for-8 from the field, including 2-for-2 from the 3-point range.
“By the third quarter, (Hampshire) started hitting some shots, so I started driving and passing,” Hairston said. “If they helped and collapsed, I kicked it out to my guys to hit the shot.”
Hairston hit a 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer to give Dundee-Crown (15-11) a 34-18 halftime lead. He then scored 15 points in the second half as the Chargers pulled away from Hampshire (5-24).
“He really turned it on, he got some bust-outs, he’s good around the hoop,” Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber said of Hairston. “He had the outside shot going, and when he gets that going, that’s a good weapon to have for us.”
Hampshire coach Ben Whitehouse lamented about the end of the first half. The Whip-Purs trailed by 10 but had the ball, only to see Jack Orndahl convert a 3-point play and Hairston beat the buzzer in the final minute.
That pushed the deficit to 16.
“We defended (the three) as well as you could,” Whitehouse said. “We executed, hand in the face, and he banked it in.”
Although the season ended on a 14-game losing streak, Whitehouse was proud of his team’s effort Monday.
“I think our society right now is instant gratification,” he said. “When you’re not seeing results, it’s easy for kids to walk away and not give effort. But we’re proud of what we teach them in terms of process and growing character in our program.”
Nathan Cork led Hampshire with 21 points. Collin Woods added 10. Orndahl scored 14 for Dundee-Crown.
The Chargers will face St. Charles East (18-9) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the regional semifinals. The two teams did not play in the regular season.
“They’re very solid,” Huber said. “We’ll have our hands full. We’re going to have to play better than we did (Monday), that’s for sure.
“I figure they’re very similar to Jacobs, and Jacobs stuck it to us a couple times both physically and intensity-wise. We’re going to have to step it up a notch to compete with those guys.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
