DIXON – A hot start gave way to a cold ending for the Dixon Duchesses in their opener at their own tournament Thursday afternoon, and it was thanks in most part to a gimmick defense by the Boylan Titans.

Trailing by two at halftime, the Titans turned to a box-and-one defense against Dixon standout Brooke Bailey. Boylan held the Duchesses to nine second-half points – and threw a fourth-quarter shutout – to advance to the quarterfinals with a 43-29 victory.

"We wanted to change the tempo, change the momentum in the second half," Boylan coach Paul Perrone said, "so we set out to stop them from getting Bailey the ball. We thought if we could shut her down, that would force their other girls to make plays. And it could get us into the flow of the game on both ends of the court."