Dixon battles from behind all game in regional semifinal loss to Rochelle

Make life tough for Rochelle center Michelle Dobbs? Check. Get junior scorer Brooke Bailey some open looks on offense? Check. Have other players step up and take open shots ... and hit them? Check.

But the well ran dry at the least opportune time for the Duchesses. The shots stopped falling in the final minutes, and Dixon's season came to an end with a 45-36 loss to the Hubs.

"We did a great job running our stuff," Bailey said, "but the shots just didn't fall for us ... especially when we needed them late. But that's basketball. It's sad that this season is over, but we have to learn from it, move on to next year, and try and get better."

Dixon (11-18) took every punch Rochelle (21-5) dished out, and bounced back from the canvas each time.

Carly Hartle's three-point play and Bailey's pull-up jumper in the lane turned a 14-7 first-quarter deficit into a 14-12 game early in the second period, then Kari Wolfe sandwiched a 3-pointer between a pair of Bailey buckets to trim a 30-19 third-quarter deficit to 32-26 midway through the third.

The biggest bounce-back came in the fourth. After neither team scored for the first 5:43 of the period, Bailey took a steal coast-to-coast for a layup and was fouled. She hit the free throw, then hit two more after rebounding a Rochelle miss to bring the Duchesses to within 39-34 with 2:07 to play.

"Whenever you have a player like Brooke Bailey, you know you're never safe," Rochelle coach Kay Dobbs said.

But Dixon could get no closer. Christina Williams and Michelle Dobbs each hit two free throws over the next minute, and Katie Roush's runout layup with 20 seconds left provided the final margin after Hartle had scored inside off a Bailey assist 40 seconds earlier.

"We were able to get open looks, and you hope when that happens that you can knock them down," Dixon coach Luke Ravlin said. "We did well for most of the game, but didn't get a couple of bounces to go our way down the stretch.