Grayslake Central handles Hampshire
On a flip shot from Hampshire forward Shane Hernandez, the visiting Whip-Purs took an improbable 14-2 lead over stunned Grayslake Central. It was already the second quarter and the Rams had missed 10 of 11 shots.
And then Fox Valley Conference opener turned quickly to the home team. To the tune of 19-0.
Jordan Taylor had 24 points and tall teammate Casey Boyle added a double-double (18 points, 11 rebounds) as the Rams posted a 64-53 victory.
“We really wanted to push the ball,’’ Boyle said. “But they slowed it down in their 2-3 zone. We had a great run and pushed the tempo.”
Tyler Smith’s rebound bucket opened the scoring for the Rams (5-3, 1-0). And that was the extent of the good news for Central. They would go another nine minutes without a making a basket.
“We are a bad starting team,’’ said Central coach Brian Moe. “And we didn’t have the 1:20 bus ride like they did. They came out in that zone and we needed to pick up the pace.”
Taylor’s drive to the hoop broke the silence for the Rams and that evidently woke up Boyle. His personal 7-point run in the second quarter ended with a thundering slam and suddenly Central was back in the game. And the scoring flurry didn’t end there. Sean Geary came off the bench and his steal and layup gave the Rams a 17-16 lead.
“Geary does all the little things that you need to win,’’ Moe said.
The Rams extended the lead to double figures before Hampshire’s offense ignited in the third quarter. Held to two buckets in the disastrous second quarter, the Whip-Purs put up 23 points in the third quarter and cut Central’s lead to 43-39.
“We got in some foul trouble and that was huge,’’ said Hampshire coach Bob Barnett. “We can play with these guys. We just have to get some leadership out there.”
Tyler Crater (12 points) had Hampshire’s first 3-pointer of the night midway through the third quarter. And then it was like he couldn’t miss after that. The junior had all of his three 3-pointers in this productive quarter. Ryan Cork (8 points) took over from there and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.
Hampshire (2-5, 0-1) cut the Central lead to 47-44 with less than six minutes to play in the contest. In the meantime, Grayslake guard Taylor was taking advantage of his time at the foul line. He made his first 13 free throws.
Boyle clearly was the tallest player on the court standing at 6-foot-9, and he was impressed with Hampshire’s 1-2 punch of Tyler Watzlawick (6-6) and Hernandez (6-6).
“They were both pretty good,’’ Boyle said. “It was pretty physical out there. And I got some help from Geary and Smith.”