Hampshire can't get past Prairie Ridge

Cory Lamb turned the game around in a heartbeat. With Hampshire trailing Prairie Ridge by a point, the Wolves' junior swingman nailed a 3-pointer, made a steal and completed a conventional 3-point play, all in the span of about 20 seconds.

Lamb's spurt gave the Wolves a 49-42 lead and, although Hampshire got back within a point twice, the Whip-Purs could never get over the hump and fell to Prairie Ridge at home, 62-59.

The Wolves (14-10, 9-2) clinched at least a share of the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division boys basketball title with the win.

Drew Doran led Hampshire (14-10), with 16 points while Matt Bridges added 13.

Another turning point came moments later when Hampshire's Brennen Woods dunked but was called for a charge after the defender appeared to arrive late.

Still, Hampshire coach Bob Barnett, who was back on the bench after missing Tuesday's game against Woodstock with illness, saw reason for optimism with the playoffs approaching.

"We're playing a lot better," he said. "We did a lot of good things. We had that little 30-second spurt where we lost focus on what we were trying to do. They want to speed you up. We don't want to go fast against the press. We tried to and we threw the ball away."

Hampshire never led in the first half, although the game was tied 3 times. Then the Whips came out and scored the first 5 points of the second half going up 33-31 on a bucket by Doran.

There followed 3 more lead changes and 2 ties until the Wolves went ahead for good on a 3-pointer by Payton Otto to start the fourth quarter.

Lamb led all scorers with 22 points and Otto added 16 for Prairie Ridge.

"There was no real difference," said Wolves' coach Corky Card. "It was going back and forth. We got up by 6, I think it was, and they hit some big shots and got back in it. We made just enough plays to win. They're just so difficult to defend."

Woods finished with 8 points and also had 8 rebounds as the Whip-Purs outrebounded the visitors, 25-19.