Cary-Grove shoots down Prairie Ridge
It certainly wasn’t easy.
But in the end, fourth-seeded Cary-Grove advanced to Wednesday’s semifinals of the Class 4A Prairie Ridge regional with a hard-fought 52-48 win over pesky fifth-seed and host PR on Monday night in Crystal Lake.
The Trojans (12-17) face top-seeded Huntley (22-4) in Wednesday’s semifinal at 6 p.m. PR ends the season at 7-20.
Making only 14 of 23 from the free throw line for the game for 60 percent, the Trojans were solid at the line when they had to be.
Cary-Grove made 9 of 12 foul shots in the final 2:10 to eke out the win. Nick Richter made 5 of 6 and Matt Aulert 3 of 4 from the line for the Trojans.
“We made free throws when we had to,” said Cary-Grove coach Ralph Schuetzle.
“Matt Aulert has struggled at the line this season, but give Matt his props — he made shots when we had to. We wanted Nick at the line at the end and he showed his experience and made some huge free throws.”
The Trojans, who held a 14-point 36-22 lead after a putback by Aulert with 2:33 left in the third quarter, had to hold off a valiant charge by the Wolves.
Led by 10 points from Sean Valentine, including a pair of 3-pointers, PR ended the third quarter with an 11-2 run to pull within 5 of the Trojans at 38-33.
The Wolves eventually tied the game at 43 on a layup by Valentine with 3:03 left. The Trojans won the game at the line in the waning moments.
“It was a crazy and physical game,” said Schuetzle. “We couldn’t put them away, but we did a good job of keeping our composure at the end.”
Richter paced the Trojans with 23 points which included 3 3-pointers.
“PR trapped more in this game than last week,” said Richter. “They gave us different looks. We stepped up and made free throws at the end.”
Jon Guay joined Richter in double digits with 11, including 3 3s. Ryan Anderson scored 8 and Aulert tallied 6 with 11 boards.
“I was a little nervous and jittery at the line at the end of the game,” said Aulert. “It was nice to make them and win. PR played better this time and we had to play well to win.”
Valentine paced the Wolves with 24.
“The effort was very good on our part,” said Prairie Ridge coach Corky Card. “We just fell a little short.”