Burlington Central 74, North Boone 42
When a team goes on a 26-2 run, they usually win the game.
Usually when a team hits seven 3-pointers and outscores the opponent by 30 at the half it's pretty inconceivable that a team out in front by that much could lose right?
Right.
Burlington Central's boys basketball team put on a first half clinic, looking more than ready to take on Hampshire today with a 74-42 rout of North Boone in a Big Northern East meeting Friday night.
"We really shot well tonight. Kind of a direct opposite of our game last Saturday," said Rockets coach Chris Payne.
The Rockets (10-4, 2-0) exploded from the get-go, hitting 10 of their 17 first-quarter shots. The Rockets saw red glare in their rear view mirror while the Vikings (4-11, 0-3) had trouble finding their mark, missing 12 shots (15-for-49 for the game) and trailing 27-5 starting the second quarter.
"It was nice to see us get back to shooting the ball the way were capable of," Payne said.
The two gunners that prove Central can shoot the ball, Jake McNutt and Mike McCurdy, combined for 43 points, including seven 3-pointers.
"They shot the ball real well. That's as good as Michael has shot it in a long time," said Payne.
McCurdy scored 12 of his game-high 25 points in the first quarter, which included two 3-pointers and two lay-ups during a 26-2 run that put away the Vikings early.
"We wanted to get out early, jump on 'em, set the pace right away, set it to how we like to play," said McNutt.
After McCurdy's onslaught ended, McNutt started his own. He opened the second quarter nailing the Rockets' first 3 shots en route to his 18-point night, which included 4 assists and four 3-pointers.
"Jake is hitting around 40 percent from there and this is what we expect from him," said Payne.
Up 30, the Rockets' shooting tailed off. They went just 11 of 29 in the second half, a far cry from the first half.
"We've been in this situation a couple times this year where we've been up big at halftime and came out in the second half and really didn't have the intensity that we had in the first half. That's just something we need to do a better job of," said Payne.
The Rockets had three players in double figures including Jason Wagner, who grabbed 8 rebounds along with his 10 points.
Alex Beck finished with 12 points to lead North Boone.
Boys basketball
Aurora Central 60, St. Edward 53: For three and half quarters, the game was a double-digit blowout. By all indications, high-flying Aurora Central would cruise to another big victory.
Then things got heated. St. Edward found a spark. And then the Green Wave got hot. Really hot.
Trailing 54-36 with 4:30 remaining, St. Ed scored 14 unanswered points in a flash. Then, when Brett Manning buried a 3-pointer with 1:01 left, St. Ed was nearly all the way back, having cut the gap to two at 55-53.
That's where Aurora Central extinguished the flame. The Chargers iced the victory by scoring the game's final 5 points for a 60-53 victory in Aurora on Friday to stay unbeaten atop the Suburban Catholic Conference and move to 16-1 overall.
Afterward, Aurora Central coach Nate Drye's voice echoed from the locker room.
"That's the loudest I've ever yelled after a game," Drye said in a calm tone. "But it's pretty sweet when you're yelling at the guys after a win rather than a loss."
Few could have predicted such a frenetic finish, considering Central's dominance to that point. The Chargers led 15-4 early and expanded that to a 30-12 halftime lead after forcing St. Edward (6-11, 0-7) into 14 turnovers during the first half.
Manning (team-high 19 points) and Riley Coleman (15 points) gave St. Edward some life in the third quarter, but Central countered with its formidable height and athleticism. With Anthony Kelley (6 assists) feeding the post, 6-foot-6 Nick Czaja enjoyed a big night. The junior scored 9 of his game-high 21 points in the third quarter as Central added to its lead and took a 44-25 advantage into the final quarter.
Even after St. Edward opened the fourth quarter with two 3-pointers by Coleman and another by Josh Dix in the first 2½ minutes, it didn't seem to matter much -- especially when Central's Mark Adams (20 points) responded with a 4-point play that put Central up 54-36 at the 4:30 mark.
That's when lightning in a bottle exploded for St. Edward. After chopping the deficit to 54-44, the Green Wave took advantage of Central's ill-advised, errant shots at the other end that allowed them to hit three consecutive 3-pointers in the span of 34 seconds.
"We took advantage," Dix said. "When we start hitting 3s like that, we can come back in any game."
St. Edward scored more points (28) in the fourth quarter than it did in the previous three combined (25). Eleven of the Green Wave's 19 field goals came from beyond the arc.
Coleman hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night, Dix hit an NBA-length shot 18 seconds later and Manning swished from the left corner before the fireworks ended.
"We were knocking 'em down and getting into a nice flow," St. Edward coach Keith Chuipek said. "Unfortunately we weren't able to do it earlier. That's the story of our team. Once we put a whole game together, we'll start winning a few more."
It also helped that St. Edward committed just 2 turnovers in the second half after some key adjustments at halftime -- and some lax defense by Central.
"We just stopped guarding people," Drye lamented. "We played stupid down the stretch, to be honest. We have to be smarter. I think we just kind of mailed it in.
"If we're going to be a great team, we've got to finish people off when we're up on them."
-- Jeff Long
CL Central 49, Cary-Grove 46: Paul Tometich tried to single-handedly lead Cary-Grove to victory Friday.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, Tometich's 28 points weren't enough as they dropped a 49-46 decision to Crystal Lake Central in a Fox Valley Conference crossover game in Crystal Lake.
"Paul has been great every game this year," said Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schueltze. "He was great tonight. Like all season, we didn't give him enough help."
After Mark Tometich's layup gave Cary-Grove (9-7) a 2-0 lead with only 47 seconds elapsed in the game, the Trojans' offense went ice cold. Cary-Grove went the final 7:13 of the first quarter and the first 2:10 of the second quarter without a point.
During that 9 minute, 23 second stretch, Central (8-7) scored 13 consecutive points with Josh Polk scoring a pair of baskets inside along with 5 points from Carson Sterchi, including a 3-pointer. The Tigers led 13-2 early in the second quarter.
Missing 12 straight shots, the Trojans broke the dry spell when Paul Tometich made a layup with 5:50 remaining in the half to make the score 13-4.
Holding Central to only 5 second-quarter points, Cary-Grove was able to get within 16-11 when Paul Tometich made 2 free throws with 7.4 seconds left before intermission.
The Trojans were only down 5 after 16 minutes despite making only 4 of 22 shots for 18 percent. Cary-Grove committed 13 first-half turnovers.
The Trojans looked like a different team to start the second half.
With Paul Tometich scoring 10 points, the Trojans started the second half on a 17-3 run. Making 7 of 10 shots, the Trojans turned a 5-point first half deficit to a 9-point 28-19 advantage with 2:22 remaining in the third quarter.
The Tigers battled back and regained the lead 44-41 after Ferrell Kemp canned 3 free throws with 3:14 left.
The Trojans grabbed the lead away from Central as Ben Jacquier banked in a 3-pointer from 20 feet to give Cary-Grove a 46-44 lead with 1:56 left.
Those would be the last points Cary-Grove would score.
Tallying the last 5 points of the game, the Tigers salted the game away when Jim Capalbo made 2 free throws with 5.4 seconds left.
The Trojans got the ball in the hands of Mark Tometich, but he was unable to get off a 3-pointer.
"We were too much dribble in the first half," said Schueltze. "We changed to more of a freelance attack in the second half and our passing and execution was much better. We spread our offense out better. We had a strong finish. We just couldn't get that last shot off."
Polk (11 rebounds, 3 blocked shots) and Sterchi led the Tigers with 13 each.
"Our team defense in the first half was very good," said Central coach Rich Czeslawski. "To hold a team like Cary-Grove to 11 points in a half is quite an accomplishment. This is a huge win. We certainly feel good about beating a good team like Cary-Grove."
-- Dave Hess
Dundee-Crown 58, Johnsburg 51: Greg McNally scored 13 points, Jeff Beck added 12 and David Bernard had 10 as Dundee-Crown (7-6) notched a Fox Valley Conference crossover win on the road.
"We played well tonight," said Chargers' coach Lance Huber. "It's always nice to win on the road, especially here."
D-C led 31-21 at halftime and stretched the advantage to 43-28 entering the fourth quarter. Johnsburg made a late run but D-C was able to register the win.
"They made a run at us in the fourth quarter but we were able to weather the storm," said Huber.
Justin Strzelczyk added 9 points for D-C.
CL South 38, Prairie Ridge 35: Steven Rogers and Eric Wilde each had 10 points as the Gators (10-5) held off Prairie Ridge in an FVC crossover. Zack Carpenter added 8 points for CL South while Bryan McGinn led PR (2-16) with 13 points.
Hampshire 59, Richmond 46: Evan Brenner scored a game-high 18 points and T.J. Burzak added 17 as Hampshire (8-8, 3-1) won for the fifth straight time in this Big Northern East contest.
Mike Kozenczak added 11 points for the Whip-Purs and James Goebbert had 9.
"It was a nice conference road win," said Hampshire coach Bob Barnett, whose club hosts rival Burlington Central tonight.
Girls basketball
St. Edward 65, ACC 58: The Green Wave (8-7, 3-3) were outscored 21-13 in the fourth quarter but were able to hang on for this Suburban Catholic Conference win at home.
"We got out to a quick start and everyone contributed," said St. Edward coach Michelle Dawson, whose team led 40-19 at halftime.
Katie Yohn led the Wave with 20 points and Celeste VonAhnen added 12. Angie Cortez contributed 9 points and Lauren Thomas had 8.