CL South, Cary-Grove tumble
The effort was there for the Crystal Lake South Gators, but the results weren't.
Crystal Lake South, which held a 10-point third quarter lead, fell to McHenry 44-41 in a semifinal game of the Class 4A McHenry regional Tuesday night.
The fourth-seeded Warriors play second-seeded Prairie Ridge for the regional title Friday at 7:30 p.m.
"We have been looking for 4 quarters of basketball all season and we got it tonight," said South coach Dan DeBruycker. "We had our chances but couldn't capitalize on them."
The Gators (13-15) grabbed a 10-point lead at 28-18 lead with 3:55 left in the third quarter on a putback by Steven Rogers.
McHenry responded with 8 straight points on 3-pointers by Brett Palmer and Rob Mortell along with a 12-footer from Josh NcNaughton to cut the South lead to 28-26.
The Gators held the lead until the 56 second mark when Jimmy Preston scored on a 5-footer to give the Warriors a 42-41 lead.
The Gators had the chance to take the lead but Adam Olszewski missed 2 free throws. McNaughton made 2 free throws with 15 seconds left to seal the win for McHenry.
"It was quite a game," said McHenry coach Tim Paddock. "We played our best game of the year Friday night at Cary and had an emotional win against Woodstock (Monday) night."
Madsen led McHenry with 14 points and 20 rebounds. Olszewski paced the Gators with 15 points.
Prairie Ridge 47, Cary-Grove 44: For three quarters, Bryan Bradshaw struggled.
The Prairie Ridge senior was 3-of-10 from the floor and scored only 7 points. But he saved his best for last.
Bradshaw scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to end with 18 and lead the second-seeded Wolves to a 47-44 win over third-seeded Cary-Grove in a semifinal game of the Class 4A McHenry regional.
"We have a couple of go-to-guys, but Bryan has been our most clutch players down the stretch of games," said PR coach Corky Card. "He made some big shots tonight."
The Trojans (14-14) took the lead at 40-38 on a 3-pointer by Matt Jones with 4:48 left. Cary-Grove extended the lead to 42-38 as Chad McCarron scored 2 of his game-high 22 points on a driving layup with 4:37 left.
Then, Bradshaw took over. He hit a 3-pointer and 2 jumpers for 7 points as the Wolves turned a 4-point deficit into a 3-point 45-42 lead with 1:44 left.
McCarron's tip-in with 56 seconds left pulled Cary-Grove within 45-44 with 42 ticks left. But Bradshaw sealed the win with 2 free throws with 26 seconds left.
Cary-Grove had one last chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer, but couldn't get a shot.
"We had two options," said Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schueltze. "We tried to get the ball to Matt Jones on a single cut or get the ball to Chris McCarron on a back screen. The play got clogged up and we couldn't get a shot off."
Brandon Coleman backed up McCarron with 11 points for Cary-Grove. Chad Ljunggren scored 15 for the Wolves.