Cary-Grove battles past Crystal Lake South

There must have been some magic in the halftime speech Cary-Grove boys basketball coach Ralph Schuetzle gave his team on Friday.

The Trojans started the third quarter with a 17-4 run to erase an 8-point deficit en route to a 59-56 win over Crystal Lake South in the Consolation A semifinals of the Hinkle Holiday Classic at Jacobs.

Each team had 11 3-pointers. However, after knocking down 9 in the first half the Gators were held to just 2 in the second half in large part due to defensive adjustments by the Trojans (6-5).

“We went to a lot more man-to-man,” Schuetzle said. “We usually don't play much man-to-man, but when a team makes nine 3-pointers in one half you have to do some thing to try and neutralize them.”

The Trojans' Patrick Meyer went on a 3-point binge of his own in the third quarter. He had three 3-pointers during the Trojans' 17-4 run. His second one tied the score at 39-39. Then after Michael Coleman's basket gave the Trojans the lead 41-39 Meyer hit another 3 to extend the margin to 44-39. Meyer also had a pair of 3s in the first half and finished with 15 points.

“We started working the ball around and the whole offense got into a rhythm,” said Meyer. “That's what a shooter likes is when the offense in the flow.”

South (8-3, 2-2 in the tournament) stayed right on the Trojans' heels to the end, but could never regain the lead. Jason Gregoire, who had a team-high 22 points for the Trojans, gave C-G its largest lead of the game 52-46 early in the fourth quarter.

The Gators, however, pulled to within 55-54 on a 3-pointer from Zach Geske with 1:10 left to play, but Gregoire knocked down a pair of free throws down the stretch to help seal the win. Gregoire was 5-for-11 from the field, including 4-of-7 from behind the 3-point arc. He was also 8-of-10 from the free throw line.

“I was struggling the last three games,” said Gregoire. “I was thinking too much. Tonight I just let it rip and played.”

The Gators made 9-of-13 3-point attempts in the first half, but missed on their first 8 tries in the second half.

“I think we got a little 3-point happy,” South coach Matt LePage said. “When they went to the man-to-man that's when we needed to take advantage inside and we couldn't.”

Geske had a team-high 19 points, including five 3-pointers, for the Gators. Alexander Reich had 11 points.