Cary-Grove turns tables on Crystal Lake South

On Jan. 15, Crystal Lake South defeated Cary-Grove 57-42 in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division game in Crystal Lake.

Call it revenge or performing better, the Trojans got even.

With seniors Matt Jones, Chad McCarron and Ryan Barker combining for 44 points, Cary-Grove avenged the earlier loss with a solid 51-48 win over the Gators at Cary-Grove Tuesday night.

"We didn't get many easy baskets in the first game against South," said Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schueltze. "We didn't attack their zone very well and settled for the outside shot. Tonight, especially in the second half we got easy shots and got to the free throw line. Playing at McHenry Friday this was a huge win."

Jones paced the Trojans with 17 points, 14 in the first half. McCarron added 16 with 12 rebounds and Barker scored 11 with 8 boards.

"This was a huge win for us after losing to South a couple of weeks ago," said Barker. "This is a huge rivalry game and it was a very physical game. We played much better tonight than we did a couple of weeks ago."

Holding a tenuous 39-38 lead early in the fourth quarter, Cary-Grove (12-10, 6-1) gained a little breathing space with a crucial 6-0 run. A basket and 2 free throws by Barker and a putback from McCarron, gave the Cary-Grove a 45-38 lead with 2:39 remaining.

But the Gators (12-9, 5-2) refused to die.

A 15-footer and 2 free throws by Ethan Breitenstein, pulled the Gators within 3, 49-46, with 1:17 left.

Jones sealed the deal for the Trojans with 2 free throws with 27 seconds left to give Cary- Grove a 51-48 lead. Kevin Rogers' 15-footer at the buzzer left the Gators 3 points short of victory.

Rogers paced South with 20 points, which included four 3-pointers while Breitenstein scored 13.

"It is painful to lose by 3 when we had a chance to win," said South coach Dan DeBruycker. "We needed to do a few little things better to win. We just didn't execute when we had to and turned the ball over way too much. You can't do that against a very good team like Cary-Grove."

State champions honored: The accolades keep piling up for the Cary-Grove football team.

The Trojans, who defeated Providence Catholic 34-17 on Nov. 28 for the Class 6A state championship, were honored at halftime of the basketball game between Cary-Grove and Crystal Lake South, by Max Preps.com and the Army National Guard.

The Trojans, 14-0 overall, were honored as the 68th ranked team in the nation.

"It is pretty awesome." said Cary-Grove fullback Eric Chandler, the honorary captain of the Daily Herald's All-Area team. "The state championship game against Providence was the hardest game of the year. We follow Max Preps all year and this is quite a honor."

Max Preps representative Steve Spiewak, who handed Cary-Grove coach Bruce Kay a trophy, said over 15,000 schools participate in high school football.

"For Cary-Grove, this is quite an honor," said Spiewak. "We get scores every week and rank teams every week. Strength of schedule is very important and Cary-Grove had a great season.

Also, Chicago Bears defensive back Danieal Manning praised the Trojans for their accomplishments.